How can I check what version of the VI editor I have?

Question

How can I check what version of the vi editor I have? What's the best way to upgrade it or install vim on Solaris?

MετάEd · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-24 15:38:59Z

vi has had the :ve[rsion] command going back at least as far as 1979, so it should work on any Solaris release.

Keith Thompson · Answer 2 · 2011-10-22 02:10:49Z

up vote 3 down vote

The command to show the version is

:version

which can be abbreviated to

:ve

answered Oct 22 '11 at 2:10

Keith Thompson
3,30111020

Michael Mrozek · Answer 3 · 2012-05-29 04:21:31Z

up vote 1 down vote

You should try to find the vi version with the package manager:

pkginfo | grep -i vi

or:

pkginfo '*vi*'

edited May 29 '12 at 4:21

Michael Mrozek♦
23.7k574125

answered May 29 '12 at 3:35

fromnaboo
9278

1

And for Solaris 11, pkg list vim – bahamat Aug 4 '12 at 21:16

alanc · Answer 4 · 2012-08-04 20:42:12Z

up vote 0 down vote

On Solaris 11 and later releases, vim is now the default version of vi.

answered Aug 4 '12 at 20:42

alanc
926412

Rainer Bendig · Answer 5 · 2011-10-24 17:02:27Z

up vote -1 down vote

vi --version

should do this job :)

answered Oct 24 '11 at 17:02

Rainer Bendig
57116

	Please someone explaining what's wrong with this answer. Thanks. – Guandalino Oct 27 '11 at 18:25
	On Solaris 9, `vi --version` prints `vi: illegal option -- -`. `vim` recognizes the `--version` option; other `vi` implementations, including `nvi`, do not. – Keith Thompson Jan 22 '12 at 23:10
	Also this answer does not address the other part of the question: upgrading or installing Vim on Solaris. – MετάEd Jun 26 '12 at 15:56

5 Answers