vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system.
4
votes
3answers
149 views
How do I quickly move the cursor to the end in bash in vi mode?
When I'm in insert mode and I move left from the last cursor position (the empty spot to the right of the last character), then I can't go back to that position anymore. I have to type Esc$a (or ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
What is the point of Virtual replace mode in Vim?
The help says that virtual replace mode commands in Vim gr & GR replace characters in screen estate and not in file.
:help Virtual-Replace-mode
I am understanding this as something like ...
3
votes
3answers
56 views
vi: backspace in insert mode not erasing characters
I am new to vi, actually I have started learning vi from today and I have got stuck at the behavior of the backspace key. Actually when I fired up vi on my Ubuntu 12.04 for the first time my backspace ...
3
votes
3answers
101 views
vi / vim - how to automatically strip trailing spaces on save?
Is there a .vimrc setting to automatically remove trailing whitespace when saving a file?
Ideally (to be safe) I would like to only have this functionality for certain files, e.g. *.rb
0
votes
1answer
55 views
vi / vim - extra indents when pasting text? [duplicate]
I can copy characters in other apps such as browsers with ctrlc.
I can then press i to enter insert mode in vim and press shiftctrlv to paste the text in.
The problem is that each line gets indented ...
5
votes
1answer
3k views
Switch VI to use backspace key instead of Control+H for backspace?
I'm on Solaris 10 and by default vi version SVR4.0, Solaris 2.5.0 is installed.
The system was set up so that when I ssh to it Control+H does backspace, and backspace outputs ^?
I added stty erase ...
2
votes
1answer
130 views
Beep when typing backslash in cvim normal mode
I installed the cvim plugin for vim.
Almost all the cvim commands start with '\'.
But I when enter this character in normal mode, all I hear is a beep. Nothing happens. What might be causing this ...
3
votes
2answers
48 views
vim shortcut to open a file under cursor in an already opened window
In vim you can open a file under the cursor by using the gf command.
One can also easily open that file in a new split window by hitting <c-w> f. This is a really nice and time saving feature. ...
1
vote
1answer
89 views
vi backspace problem
I have to work on a really old AIX workstation with vi version 3.10 in it.
I have done a little work in vim, but that was much more easy to use than the old vi (atleast untill I get used to the old ...
3
votes
1answer
48 views
Custom key bindings for vi shell mode, ie, “set -o vi”?
I just discovered the wonders of set -o vi, and am curious if it is possible to customize this vi shell mode in some of the same ways you can customized vi or vim?
For example, create a custom key ...
1
vote
2answers
98 views
How can I set “vi” as my default editor in UNIX?
I believe I can do something like export EDITOR=vi, but I'm not sure what exactly to enter, and where.
How can I set "vi" as my default editor?
2
votes
1answer
163 views
Vi: On startup, highlight tags and display tags in a preview window
I am using vi as a note-taking and outlining tool. I am constructing the "tags" file by myself. What I would like to do is that when I open my notes or
outline file, vi reads the tags present in this ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
vi - search the string you cursor is over?
I looking more for a method that is "built-in" to vi, and not something that I could do in my .vimrc. Though, solutions for .vimrc are appreciated. :-)
When I want to search a string, sometimes that ...
1
vote
2answers
54 views
How do I set vim as the default editor when I sudo?
I'm working on a CentOS 5.9 machine, and I simply want to type
sudo vi somefile
and have my trusty vim with syntax highlighting, etc. This seems simple enough, but after many attempts, it's ...
2
votes
1answer
73 views
Vim - how to increase each number in visual block?
I have the following SQL:
update am.PERMISSIONS set PRM_ORDER = 35 PRM_VISIBLE = b'1' where PRM_ID = 3;
update am.PERMISSIONS set PRM_ORDER = [35] PRM_VISIBLE = b'1' where PRM_ID = 7;
update ...
1
vote
2answers
76 views
How do I set bash aliases and variables from within vim?
In cmdline mode, the following examples do not work for me.
!alias lol='echo lol'
!lol='echo lol'
4
votes
2answers
125 views
vim customized with emacs commands (insert mode only)
I was an emacs user, and I have to switch to vim. But I miss some basic emacs commands in vim insert mode:
C-A
C-E
C-K
C-Y
C-x C-s
... and some other
I know that I can press Escape and then press ...
5
votes
6answers
174 views
How to select complete file in vi, to be pasted in gedit?
I know that doing %y a will yank complete file into register a. However this doesn't help in pasting the file content in another text editor (say gedit). What alternative is there for doing so?
3
votes
5answers
2k views
vi command for adding blank line?
In vi, I can use o or O to add a blank line and go into insertion mode. But what if I want to stay in command mode, is there a command for this?
In googling, I'm seeing suggestions to add stuff to my ...
16
votes
3answers
7k views
Delete from cursor to end of line on VI
I know I've probably looked over this a million times in all the VI documents I've read, but I can't seem to find the delete from cursor to end of line command.
0
votes
0answers
43 views
set hlsearch not working in vi
I want the result to be highlighted when I search for it in a file.So,I opened a file with vi(version 7.2) and then used command :set hlsearch to enable highlighting.But even then I don't get my ...
17
votes
9answers
993 views
Bash commands inside vi
Is it possible to type a bash command inside vi and get the stdout?
I find it often tedious to close and reopen vi just because I want to look something up in the shell.
2
votes
1answer
211 views
How to enter non-ascii characters using hex or octal codes in vi
I'm trying to write a golfing library for postscript. But it needs to be condensed itself. So I need a convenient way to type-in arbitrary bytes within mostly ascii text.
I know this can easily be ...
4
votes
1answer
710 views
How to enable ctrl-R in zsh
I recently switched to zsh (finally) and am loving it!
So far one thing that I am missing is ctrl-R to do incremental history search.
I have the history set up properly
HISTSIZE=10000
...
2
votes
3answers
71 views
Ctrl+W in vi[m] to erase to whitespace
I want to mimic the functionality of bash readline in vim. Is there an easy way to do that?
Currently in vim Ctrl+W "cuts" from cursor back to special char or whitespace.
ie. In bash Ctrl+W "cuts" ...
0
votes
1answer
185 views
Unable to write to file on FreeBSD — read-only filesystem
I bought a load balancer that runs the application on of FreeBSD. I found the configuration file that has all the settings and login information for both the admin and read-only users. I logged in as ...
2
votes
4answers
114 views
What are some of the main differences between vim and vi?
What are a few of the main differences between vi and vim? Are there any significant keyboard shortcut differences, any features that one has that the other does not? Yes, I do know that I asked ...
0
votes
1answer
138 views
Write out without quitting in Vim?
I looked through the vim manual, and I could only find the commands for "write and quit" and "write (if edited) and quit". Is there a command for "write out without quitting", similar to ^o in nano?
2
votes
1answer
21 views
messages appearing when not desired
I have SSH access to a CentOS box and I have a strange behavior of that box, I have never seen before.
Lets say I am editing a file with vi or displaying tail -f of a file. Every time the server has ...
3
votes
2answers
231 views
Globally replace Vi with Vim on Fedora
On Debian-based systems the alternatives system handles both the vi and vim executable. So if vim is installed and you execute vi, you also get vim, which I find very nice, because I absolutely hate ...
7
votes
1answer
141 views
Vim: Making XML text “pretty”
Is there an easy way within vi to make your XML text "pretty"?
For example:
I want this..
<person>
<name>Nick</name>
<age>26</age>
...
16
votes
6answers
1k views
Vi vs vim, or, is there any reason why I would ever want to use vi?
I know a bit about *NIX text editors (currently migrating from nano to vim), and, after looking around a bit on the Unix & Linux SE, have noticed that a fair about of question use vi instead of ...
3
votes
2answers
100 views
While in vi how can I pull in / insert / paste the contents of another file
I am editing file 'A' in vi.
I have another file 'B' whose contents I want to 'paste' into my current location.
Other than actual mouse copy and pasting, is there a command that I can use that will ...
6
votes
1answer
445 views
Why is vi apparently broken (viminfo error E576), and how can I fix it?
I am proficient at using Unix/Linux, but I am not an expert. If I want to open a file (for example, file.txt), I use vi:
vi file.txt
This opens the file, and if I want to close it, I use :q!. I ...
2
votes
4answers
113 views
Disable vi from going to the last visited line upon file opening
Is there something I can put in my exrc file to prevent vi from going to the last line I was on last time I had the file open and just set the cursor at the top by default?
I think it is ...
3
votes
2answers
528 views
How to unset set -o vi?
I wanted to try vi mode in bash but now I would like to change it back to normal.
How can I unset -o vi ?
4
votes
1answer
104 views
vim: how do I set :match and :2match search results to different colors?
For example, I want something along the lines of:
:match search /<div/ guib=Green
:match search /<\/div>/ guibf=Blue
only that doesn't work.
2
votes
1answer
50 views
remotely query text file associated with an instance of vi
I have opened several text files (a.txt, b.txt, c.txt, ...) in different sessions of vi launched from different instances of a bash shell. Having then accessed that machine remotely, I wish to ...
2
votes
2answers
81 views
Bash Vi-mode: Move back to last slash
I'm using Bash in vi mode with set -o vi.
Often I re-run a command but need to change the name of a file in the same directory.
Example:
mv /tmp/myfileA.txt /home/daniel/myfileA.txt
Then, I ...
5
votes
2answers
295 views
Does using ctrl+c instead of esc to exit insert mode break anything in vi?
When using vi, you can exit insert mode with Ctrl + C instead of the more traditional Esc. Are there any situations where it would be undesirable to use for former instead of the latter? Does it break ...
5
votes
0answers
52 views
Change PS1 without hitting enter [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Change cursor shape (or color) to indicate vi mode in bash
I am using vi-mode in a bash shell, and I would like to change the PS1 variable whenever I am in insert mode. ...
1
vote
2answers
209 views
vi <TAB> completes only directories in bash
In a directory I type vi and then tab (twice), this gives me
user$ vi
CMakeFiles/ global/ libs/
whereas ls followed by 2 tabs gives me
user$ ls
! core.log CMakeFiles/ global/ libs/ ...
3
votes
3answers
128 views
Sed processed file displays differently in vi vs cat
I can't tell if sed is mucking my file up. In vi or less it displays properly, but cat and more insert other characters. why are they showing up differently
I am on a redhat linux system with a ...
1
vote
2answers
135 views
concat file content horizontally in vi/vim
I have a text file that contains a big matrix, that columns are split like the following example:
col1 col2 col3
row1 .. .. ..
row2 .. .. ..
row3 .. .. ..
row4 .. .. ..
row5 ...
3
votes
2answers
75 views
Shortcut for tabn & tabp in vim/vi
When I open several files using vim+tabf, switching across the files will involve using tabp & tabn.
Can I have a quicker way to do so?
0
votes
2answers
366 views
git commit error - cannot run vim: No such file or directory
$ git commit
error: cannot run vim: No such file or directory
error: There was a problem with the editor 'vim'.
Please supply the message using either -m or -F option.
How can I overcome the error ...
6
votes
1answer
195 views
How can I switch 2 characters in vi?
I like the fact that I've memorized ddp for switching two lines (i.e. dd deletes the line and then p puts it back '1 higher').
Is there are similar set of keystrokes for switching 2 characters so ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
Finding parentheses with % in vim across lines
In the following text block, starting at 1 or 3, and pressing % in normal mode in vim, finds the pair of matching parentheses, and toggles between them if you press % again. Starting at 1 finds the ...
2
votes
5answers
639 views
Comment all lines in a text file?
In a text file I need to comment out all lines by adding a ";" as first character of each line. What is a good way to do this? I thought of Vim's visual block mode, but I couldn't find a "select all" ...
17
votes
3answers
1k views
Change cursor shape (or color) to indicate vi mode in bash
To clarify: I am not asking how to change the cursor when using vim within a terminal. I want the cursor to change when switching between input and command mode within Bash's vi-mode:
set -o vi ...
