grok vi.md

grok vi

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Your problem with Vim is that you don't grok vi.—Jim Dennis, Stack Overflow

Motion

Command	Explanation
h	Move cursor left
j	Move cursor down
k	Move cursor up
l	Move cursor right
w	Move to the next word
W	Move to the next space-separated word
b	Move to the beginning of the current word
e	Move to the end of the current word
B	Move to the beginning of the space-separated word
E	Move to the end of the space-separated word
gg	Jump to the beginning of the file
G	Jump to the end of the file
{	Move to the beginning of the paragraph
}	Move to the end of the paragraph
'.	Jump back to the last edited line
g;	Jump back to the last edited position
%	Jump to the matching bracket (e.g., {, (, [)
f<char>	Move to the next instance of <char> on the current line
F<char>	Move to the previous instance of <char> on the current line
;	Repeat the last f or F command.
*	Search forward for the word under the cursor.
#	Search backward for the word under the cursor.

Copying, cutting, and pasting

Command	Explanation
yy	Copy (yank) the current line.
[number]yy	Copy (yank) the specified number of lines.
yW	Yank from cursor to the end of the current/next big word.
y'a	Yank from the cursor to the line containing the mark 'a'.
dd	Delete (cut) the current line.
[number]dd	Delete (cut) the specified number of lines.
d<movement>	Delete (cut) text based on the movement command (e.g., dw, d}, etc.)
y<movement>	Yank (copy) text based on the movement command.
d`a	Cut from the current location to the mark 'a'
y`a	Copy from the current location to the mark 'a'
"{register}d<movement>	Delete text into the specified register (e.g. "add)
"{register}y<movement>	Yank text into the specified register (e.g. "by/foo)
"{register}p	Paste text from the specified register after the cursor (e.g. "ap)
"{register}P	Paste text from the specified register before the cursor (e.g. "bP)
p	Paste the content of the unnamed register after the cursor.
P	Paste the content of the unnamed register before the cursor.

Marks and registers

Command	Explanation
ma	Set the mark 'a' to the current cursor location.
mz	Set the mark 'z' to the current cursor location.
'a	Move to the beginning of the line containing mark 'a'.
`a	Move to the exact location of mark 'a'.
"	Prefix to use a named register.

Text manipulation

Command	Explanation
J	Join the current line with the next line.
[number]J	Join the current line with the next number of lines.
r<char>	Replace the character under the cursor with <char>.
~	Change the case of the character under the cursor.
.	Repeat the last text-changing command
I	Insert at the beginning of the current line.
A	Append to the end of the current line.
o	Open a new line below the current line and enter insert mode.
O	Open a new line above the current line and enter insert mode.
C	Change the remaining part of the line from the cursor
v	Enter visual mode to select text with movements.
V	Enter visual line mode to select lines.
Ctrl-v	Enter visual block mode to select a rectangular block of text.
xp	Swap the character under the cursor with the next character.
==	Fix line indenting.
>	Indent block (in visual mode)
<	Unindent block (in visual mode)

Search and replace

Command	Explanation
/pattern	Search forward for pattern.
?pattern	Search backward for pattern.
n	Jump to the next match of the search pattern.
N	Jump to the previous match of the search pattern.
:s/foo/bar/g	Substitute all occurrences of "foo" with "bar" on the current line.
:%s/foo/bar/g	Substitute all occurrences of "foo" with "bar" in the entire file.
:[range]s/foo/bar/g	Substitute all occurrences of "foo" with "bar" within the specified range.
d/foo	Cut from the current line to the next line containing "foo."
y?bar	Copy from the current line to the most recent (previous) line containing "bar."

ex commands

Command	Explanation
:127,215 s/foo/bar	Change the first occurrence of "foo" into "bar" on each line between 127 and 215.
:.,$j	From the current line to the last line, join them all into one line.
:%	Synonym for :1,$ (all lines).
:g/re/p	Globally print lines containing a regular expression.
:% g/foo/d	Delete any lines containing the string "foo."
:% v/bar/d	Delete any lines NOT containing the string "bar."
:% g/foo/m$	Move all lines containing "foo" to the end of the file.
:% g/^ /-1j	For every line starting with " ", go up one line and join them.
:% g/foo/s/bar/zzz/g	For every line containing "foo", substitute all "bar" with "zzz".
:'a,'bg/foo/j	Join any line containing "foo" to its subsequent line, if it lies between marks 'a' and 'b'.
:r foo	Insert the content of the file named "foo" at the current line.
:r! command	Insert the output of the shell command at the current line.
:! command	Filter selections of text through the shell command.
:so file	Execute commands from the specified file.

Macros and other

Command	Explanation
q<register>	Start recording a macro into the specified register (e.g. qa).
q	Stop recording a macro.
@<register>	Execute the macro stored in the specified register (e.g. @a).
@@	Execute the last used macro.
CTRL-A	Increment the number under the cursor
CTRL-X	Decrement the number under the cursor

Visual mode

Command	Explanation
v%	Select to the next matching parenthesis.
vib	Select text inside parenthesis block.
vi"	Select text between double quotes.
vi'	Select text between single quotes.
viB	Select a curly brace block.
vi{	Select a curly brace block.
ggVG	Select the entire file.

Additional Tips

• The "Zen" of vi: Thinking of vi as a language, with verbs (actions), subjects (the text to act on), and objects (registers, etc).
• Marks: Use marks to quickly jump to and manipulate specific locations in the text.
• Registers: Use registers to store text for copying, cutting, and pasting.
• Combine commands: Combine commands to create more complex operations (e.g. ciw to change inner word).
• Macros: Use macros to record and replay a series of commands to perform repetitive actions.
• CTRL-R: Use CTRL-R in insert or command mode with registers to paste contents of registers.