Vi/Ex Reference Manual
Keith Bostic
Computer Science Division
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720
April 27, 2013
Abstract
This document is the reference guide for the 4.4BSD implemen-
tations of nex/nvi, which are implementations of the historic
Berkeley ex/vi editors.
Licensing
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994
The Regents of the University of California. All Rights
Reserved.
Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
Keith Bostic. All Rights Reserved.
The vi program is freely redistributable. You are welcome to
copy, modify and share it with others under the conditions listed in
the LICENSE file. If any company (not individual!) finds vi suffi-
ciently useful that you would have purchased it, or if any company
wishes to redistribute it, contributions to the authors would be
appreciated.
Acknowledgements
Bruce Englar encouraged the early development of the historic
ex/vi editor. Peter Kessler helped bring sanity to version 2's
command layout. Bill Joy wrote versions 1 and 2.0 through 2.7, and
created the framework that users see in the present editor. Mark
Horton added macros and other features and made ex/vi work on a
large number of terminals and Unix systems.
Nvi is originally derived from software contributed to the
University of California, Berkeley by Steve Kirkendall, the author
of the vi clone elvis.
IEEE Standard Portable Operating System Interface for Comput-
er Environments (POSIX) 1003.2 style Regular Expression support
was done by Henry Spencer.
The curses library was originally done by Ken Arnold. Scrol-
ling and reworking for nvi was done by Elan Amir.
George Neville-Neil added the Tcl interpreter, and Sven Ver-
doolaege added the Perl interpreter.
Rob Mayoff added Cscope support.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has
given us permission to reprint portions of their documentation.
Portions of this document are reprinted and reproduced from IEEE
Std 1003.2-1992, IEEE Standard Portable Operating System Interface
for Computer Environments (POSIX), copyright 1992 by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
The financial support of UUNET Communications Services is
gratefully acknowledged.
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1. Description
Ex is a line-oriented text editor; Vi is a screen oriented text
editor. Ex and vi are different interfaces to the same program, and it
is possible to switch back and forth during an edit session. View is
the equivalent of using the -R (read-only) option of vi.
This reference manual is the one provided with the nex/nvi ver-
sions of the ex/vi text editors. Nex/nvi are intended as bug-for-bug
compatible replacements for the original Fourth Berkeley Software Dis-
tribution (4BSD) ex/vi programs. This reference manual is accompanied
by a traditional-style manual page. That manual page describes the
functionality found in ex/vi in far less detail than the description
here. In addition, it describes the system interface to ex/vi, e.g.
command line options, session recovery, signals, environmental vari-
ables, and similar things.
This reference is intended for users already familiar with ex/vi.
Anyone else should almost certainly read a good tutorial on the editor
first. If you are in an unfamiliar environment, and you absolutely
have to get work done immediately, see the section entitled "Fast
Startup" in the manual page. It is probably enough to get you started.
There are a few features in nex/nvi that are not found in his-
toric versions of ex/vi. Some of the more interesting of those
features are briefly described in the next section, entitled "Addi-
tional Features". For the rest of this document, nex/nvi is used only
when it is necessary to distinguish it from the historic implementa-
tions of ex/vi.
Future versions of this software will be periodically made avail-
able by anonymous ftp, and can be retrieved from ftp.cs.berkeley.edu,
ftp.cs.berkeley.edu, in the directory ucb/4bsd. ucb/4bsd.
2. Additional Features in Nex/Nvi
There are a few features in nex/nvi that are not found in his-
toric versions of ex/vi. Some of the more interesting of these are as
follows:
8-bit clean data, large lines, files
Nex/nvi will edit any format file. Line lengths are limited by
available memory, and file sizes are limited by available disk
space. The vi text input mode command <control-X> can insert any
possible character value into the text.
Background and foreground screens
The bg command backgrounds the current screen, and the fg command
foregrounds backgrounded screens. The display command can be used
to list the background screens.
Command Editing
You can enter a normal editing window on the collected commands
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that you've entered on the vi colon command-line, and then modify
and/or execute the commands. See the cedit edit option for more
information.
Displays
The display command can be used to display the current buffers,
the backgrounded screens, and the tags stack.
Extended Regular Expressions
The extended option causes Regular Expressions to be interpreted
as as Extended Regular Expressions, (i.e. egrep(1) style Regular
Expressions).
File Name Completion
It is possible to do file name completion and file name displays
when entering commands on the vi colon command-line. See the
filec option for more information.
Infinite undo
Changes made during an edit session may be rolled backward and
forward. A . command immediately after a u command continues
either forward or backward depending on whether the u command was
an undo or a redo.
Left-right scrolling
The leftright option causes nvi to do left-right screen scrol-
ling, instead of the traditional vi line wrapping.
Message Catalogs
It is possible to display informational and error messages in
different languages by providing a catalog of messages. See the
msgcat option and the file catalog/README catalog/README for more
information.
Incrementing numbers
The # command increments or decrements the number referenced by
the cursor.
Previous file
The previous command edits the previous file from the argument
list.
Scripting languages
The :pe[rl] cmd, :perld[o] cmd and :tc[l] cmd commands execute
Perl and Tcl/Tk commands, respectively, on lines from the edit
buffer. See the "Scripting Languages" section and the specific
commands for more information.
Split screens
The Edit, Ex, Next, Previous, Tag and Visual (in vi mode) com-
mands divide the screen into multiple editing regions and then
perform their normal function in a new screen area. The
<control-W> command rotates between the foreground screens. The
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resize command can be used to grow or shrink a particular screen.
Tag stacks
Tags are now maintained in a stack. The <control-T> command
returns to the previous tag location. The tagpop command returns
to the most recent tag location by default, or, optionally to a
specific tag number in the tag stack, or the most recent tag from
a specified file. The display command can be used to list the
tags stack. The tagtop command returns to the top of the tag
stack.
Usage information
The exusage and viusage commands provide usage information for
all of the ex and vi commands by default, or, optionally, for a
specific command or key.
Word search
The <control-A> command searches for the word referenced by the
cursor.
3. Startup Information
Ex/vi interprets one of two possible environmental variables and
reads up to three of five possible files during startup. The variables
and files are expected to contain ex commands, not vi commands. In
addition, they are interpreted before the file to be edited is read,
and therefore many ex commands may not be used. Generally, any command
that requires output to the screen or that needs a file upon which to
operate, will cause an error if included in a startup file or environ-
mental variable.
Because the ex command set supported by nex/nvi is a superset of
the command set supported by historical implementations of ex, nex/nvi
can use the startup files created for the historical implementations,
but the converse may not be true.
If the -s (the historic - option) is specified, or if standard
input is redirected from a file, all environmental variables and
startup files are ignored.
Otherwise, startup files and environmental variables are handled
in the following order:
(1) The file /etc/vi.exrc /etc/vi.exrc is read, as long as it is
owned by root or the effective user ID of the user.
(2) The environmental variable NEXINIT NEXINIT (or the variable
EXINIT, EXINIT, if NEXINIT NEXINIT is not set) is interpreted.
(3) If neither NEXINIT NEXINIT or EXINIT EXINIT was set, and the
HOME HOME environmental variable is set, the file $HOME/.nexrc
$HOME/.nexrc (or the file $HOME/.exrc, $HOME/.exrc, if
$HOME/.nexrc $HOME/.nexrc does not exist) is read, as long as
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the effective user ID of the user is root or is the same as the
owner of the file.
When the $HOME directory is being used for both nex/nvi and an
historic implementation of ex/vi, a possible solution is to put
nex/nvi specific commands in the .nexrc .nexrc file, along with
a :source $HOME/.exrc command to read in the commands common to
both implementations.
(4) If the exrc option was turned on by one of the previous startup
information sources, the file .nexrc .nexrc (or the file .exrc,
.exrc, if .nexrc .nexrc does not exist) is read, as long as the
effective user ID of the user is the same as the owner of the
file.
No startup file is read if it is writable by anyone other than
its owner.
It is not an error for any of the startup environmental variables
or files not to exist.
Once all environmental variables are interpreted, and all startup
files are read, the first file to be edited is read in (or a temporary
file is created). Then, any commands specified using the -c option are
executed, in the context of that file.
4. Recovery
There is no recovery program for nex/nvi, nor does nex/nvi run
setuid. Recovery files are created readable and writable by the owner
only. Users may recover any file which they can read, and the
superuser may recover any edit session.
Edit sessions are backed by files in the directory named by the
recdir option (the directory /var/tmp/vi.recover /var/tmp/vi.recover
by default), and are named "vi.XXXXXXXXXX", where "XXXXXXXXXX" is a
number related to the process ID. When a file is first modified, a
second recovery file containing an email message for the user is
created, and is named "recover.XXXXXXXXXX", where, again, "XXXXXXXXXX"
is associated with the process ID. Both files are removed at the end
of a normal edit session, but will remain if the edit session is
abnormally terminated or the user runs the ex preserve command.
The recdir option may be set in either the user's or system's
startup information, changing the recovery directory. (Note, however,
that if a memory based file system is used as the backup directory,
each system reboot will delete all of the recovery files! The same
caution applies to directories such as /tmp /tmp which are cleared of
their contents by a system reboot, or /usr/tmp /usr/tmp which is
periodically cleared of old files on many systems.)
The recovery directory should be owned by root, or at least by a
pseudo-user. In addition, if directory "sticky-bit" semantics are
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available, the directory should have the sticky-bit set so that files
may only be removed by their owners. The recovery directory must be
read, write, and executable by any user, i.e. mode 1777.
If the recovery directory does not exist, ex/vi will attempt to
create it. This can result in the recovery directory being owned by a
normal user, which means that that user will be able to remove other
user's recovery and backup files. This is annoying, but is not a secu-
rity issue as the user cannot otherwise access or modify the files.
The recovery file has all of the necessary information in it to
enable the user to recover the edit session. In addition, it has all
of the necessary email headers for sendmail(8). If ex/vi receives a
hangup (SIGHUP) signal, or the user executes the ex preserve command,
ex/vi will automatically email the recovery information to the user.
Finally, the owner execute bit is set on backup files when they
are created, and unset when they are first modified, e.g. backup files
that have no associated email recovery file will have this bit set.
(There is also a small window where empty files can be created and not
yet have this bit set. This is due to the method in which the files
are created.) Such files are deleted when the system reboots.
Most of the recovery process is automated on OpenBSD. When the
system boots, the shell script /etc/rc /etc/rc executes the vi
recovery script /usr/libexec/vi.recover. /usr/libexec/vi.recover. This
takes care of removing stale files, checking for backup files, and
sending email notification to the owners of such files.
Consult the manual page for details on recovering preserved or
aborted editing sessions on startup.
5. Sizing the Screen
The size of the screen can be set in a number of ways. Ex/vi
takes the following steps until values are obtained for both the
number of rows and number of columns in the screen.
(1) If the environmental variable LINES LINES exists, it is used to
specify the number of rows in the screen.
(2) If the environmental variable COLUMNS COLUMNS exists, it is
used to specify the number of columns in the screen.
(3) The TIOCGWINSZ ioctl see tty(4) is attempted on the standard
error file descriptor.
(4) The terminfo(5) entry is checked for the "li" entry (rows) and
the "co" entry (columns).
(5) The number of rows is set to 24, and the number of columns is
set to 80.
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If a window change size signal (SIGWINCH) is received, the new
window size is retrieved using the TIOCGWINSZ ioctl(2) call, and all
other information is ignored.
6. Character Display
In both ex and vi printable characters as defined by isprint(3)
are displayed using the local character set.
Non-printable characters, for which iscntrl(3) returns true, and
which are less than octal \040, are displayed as the string "^<charac-
ter>", "^<character>", where <character> <character> is the character
that is the original character's value offset from the "@" "@" charac-
ter. For example, the octal character \001 is displayed as "^A". "^A".
If iscntrl(3) returns true for the octal character \177, it is
displayed as the string "^?". "^?". All other characters are displayed
as either hexadecimal values, in the form "0x<high-halfbyte> ...
0x<low-halfbyte>", "0x<high-halfbyte> ... 0x<low-halfbyte>", or as
octal values, in the form "\<high-one-or-two-bits> ... \<low-three-
bits>". "\<high-one-or-two-bits> ... \<low-three-bits>". The display
of unknown characters is based on the value of the octal option.
In vi command mode, the cursor is always positioned on the last
column of characters which take up more than one column on the screen.
In vi text input mode, the cursor is positioned on the first column of
characters which take up more than one column on the screen.
7. Multiple Screens
Nvi supports multiple screens by dividing the window into
regions. It also supports stacks of screens by permitting the user to
change the set of screens that are currently displayed.
The Edit, Ex, Fg, Next, Previous, Tag and Visual (in vi mode)
commands divide the current screen into two regions of approximately
equal size and then perform their usual action in a new screen area.
If the cursor is in the lower half of the screen, the screen will
split up, i.e. the new screen will be above the old one. If the cursor
is in the upper half of the screen, the new screen will be below the
old one.
When more than one screen is editing a file, changes in any
screen are reflected in all other screens editing the same file. Exit-
ing a screen without saving any changes (or explicitly discarding
them) is permitted until the last screen editing the file is exited,
at which time the changes must be saved or discarded.
The resize command permits resizing of individual screens.
Screens may be grown, shrunk, or set to an absolute number of rows.
The ^W command is used to switch between screens. Each ^W moves
to the next lower screen in the window, or to the first screen in the
window if there are no lower screens.
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The bg command "backgrounds" the current screen. The screen
disappears from the window, and the rows it occupied are taken over by
a neighboring screen. It is an error to attempt to background the only
screen in the window.
The display screens command displays the names of the files asso-
ciated with the current backgrounded screens in the window.
The fg [file] command moves the specified screen from the list of
backgrounded screens to the foreground. If no file argument is speci-
fied, the first screen on the list is foregrounded. By default, fore-
grounding consists of backgrounding the current screen, and replacing
its space in the window with the foregrounded screen.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Fg, will fore-
ground the backgrounded screen in a new screen instead of swapping it
with the current screen.
If the last foregrounded screen in the window is exited, and
there are backgrounded screens, the first screen on the list of back-
grounded screens takes over the window.
8. Tags, Tag Stacks, and Cscope
Nvi supports the historic vi tag command <control-]>, and the
historic ex tag command tag. These commands change the current file
context to a new location, based on information found in the tags tags
files. If you are unfamiliar with these commands, you should review
their description in the ex and vi commands section of this manual.
For additional information on tags files, see the discussion of the
tags edit option and the system ctags(1) manual page.
In addition, nvi supports the notion of "tags stacks", using the
<control-T> command. The <control-T> command returns the user to the
previous context, i.e., the last place from which a <control-]> or tag
command was entered. These three commands provide the basic func-
tionality which allows you to use vi to review source code in a struc-
tured manner.
Nvi also provides two other basic ex commands for tag support:
tagpop and tagtop. The tagpop command is identical to the <control-T>
command, with the additional functionality that you may specify that
modifications to the current file are to be discarded. This cannot be
done using the <control-T> command. The tagtop command discards all of
the contexts that have been pushed onto the tag stack, returning to
the context from which the first <control-]> or tag command was
entered.
The historic ctags(1) tags file format supports only a single
location per tag, normally the function declaration or structure or
string definition. More sophisticated source code tools often provide
multiple locations per tag, e.g., a list of the places from which a
function is called or a string definition is used. An example of this
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functionality is the System V source code tool, cscope.
Cscope creates a database of information on source code files, and
supports a query language for that information as described in the
cscope(1) manual page. Nvi contains an interface to the cscope query
language which permits you to query cscope and then sequentially step
through the locations in the sources files which cscope returns. There
are two nvi commands which support this ability to step through multi-
ple locations. They are the ex commands tagnext and tagprev. The tag-
next command moves to the next location for the current tag. The tag-
prev command moves to the previous location for the current tag. (See
the tagnext and tagprev command discussion in the ex commands section
of this manual for more information.) At any time during this sequen-
tial walk, you may use the <control-]>, tag or cscope commands to move
to a new tag context, and then use the <control-T> or tagpop commands
to return and continue stepping through the locations for this tag.
This is similar to the previous model of a simple tag stack, except
that each entry in the tag stack may have more than one file context
that is of interest.
Although there is no widely distributed version of ctags(1) that
creates tags files with multiple locations per tag, nvi has been writ-
ten to understand the obvious extension to the historic tags file for-
mat, i.e., more than a single line in the tags file with the same ini-
tial tag name. If you wish to extend your ctags implementation or
other tool with which you build tags files, this extension should be
simple and will require no changes to nvi.
The nvi and cscope interface is based on the new ex command
cscope, which has five subcommands: add, find, help, kill and reset.
The subcommand find itself has eight subcommands: c, d, e, f, g, i, s
and t.
cs[cope] a[dd] file
The add command attaches to the specified cscope database. The
file name is expanded using the standard filename expansions. If
file is a directory, the file "cscope.out" in that directory is
used as the database.
After nvi attaches to a new database, all subsequent cscope
queries will be asked of that database. The result of any single query
is the collection of response to the query from all of the attached
databases.
If the "CSCOPE_DIRS" environmental variable is set when nvi is run, it
is expected to be a <colon> or <blank>-separated list of cscope data-
bases or directories containing cscope databases, to which the user
wishes to attach.
:cs[cope] f[ind] c|d|e|f|g|i|s|t buffer|pattern
The find command is the cscope query command for nvi. For this
command, nvi queries all attached cscope databases for the pat-
tern. If the pattern is a double-quote character followed by a
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valid buffer name (e.g., "<character>), "<character>), then the
contents of the named buffer are used as the pattern. Otherwise,
the pattern is a Regular Expression.
The find command pushes the current location onto the tags stack,
and switches to the first location resulting from the query, if
the query returned at least one result.
File names returned by the cscope query, if not absolute paths,
are searched for relative to the directory where the cscope data-
base is located. In addition, if the file "cscope.tpath" appears
in the same directory as the cscope database, it is expected to
contain a colon-separated list of directory names where files
referenced by its associated cscope database may be found.
The find subcommand is one of the following:
c Find callers of the name.
d Find all function calls made from name.
e Find pattern.
f Find files with name as substring.
g Find definition of name.
i Find files #including name.
s Find all uses of name.
t Find assignments to name.
:cs[cope] h[elp] [command]
List the cscope commands, or optionally list usage help for any
single cscope command.
:display c[onnections]
Display the list of cscope databases to which nvi is currently
connected.
:cs[cope] k[ill] #
Disconnect from a specific cscope database. The connection number
is the one displayed by the ex display connections command.
:cs[cope] r[eset]
Disconnect from all attached cscope databases.
Cscope was originally part of the official AT&T Unix distribu-
tion. In April 2000 the code for Cscope was open sourced under the BSD
license. Information on downloading this code, and on Cscope itself,
can be obtained from http://cscope.sourceforge.net/.
9. Regular Expressions and Replacement Strings
Regular expressions are used in line addresses, as the first part
of the ex substitute, global, and v commands, and in search patterns.
The regular expressions supported by ex/vi are, by default, the
Basic Regular Expressions (BRE's) described in the IEEE POSIX Standard
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1003.2. The extended option causes all regular expressions to be
interpreted as the Extended Regular Expressions (ERE's) described by
the same standard. (See re_format(7) for more information.) Generally
speaking, BRE's are the Regular Expressions found in ed(1) and
grep(1), and ERE's are the Regular Expressions found in egrep(1).
The following is not intended to provide a description of Regular
Expressions. The information here only describes strings and charac-
ters which have special meanings in the ex/vi version of RE's, or
options which change the meanings of characters that normally have
special meanings in RE's.
(1) An empty RE (e.g. "//" "//" or "??" "??" is equivalent to the
last RE used.
(2) The construct "\<" "\<" matches the beginning of a word.
(3) The construct "\>" "\>" matches the end of a word.
(4) The character "~" "~" matches the replacement part of the last
substitute command.
When the magic option is not set, the only characters with spe-
cial meanings are a "^" "^" character at the beginning of an RE, a "$"
"$" character at the end of an RE, and the escaping character "\".
"\". The characters ".", ".", "*", "*", "[" "[" and "~" "~" are
treated as ordinary characters unless preceded by a "\"; "\"; when
preceded by a "\" "\" they regain their special meaning.
Replacement strings are the second part of a substitute command.
The character "&" "&" (or "\&" "\&" if the magic option is not
set) in the replacement string stands for the text matched by the RE
that is being replaced. The character "~" "~" (or "\~" "\~" if the
magic option is not set) stands for the replacement part of the previ-
ous substitute command. It is only valid after a substitute command
has been performed.
The string "\#", "\#", where "#" "#" is an integer value from 1
to 9, stands for the text matched by the portion of the RE enclosed in
the "#"'th "#"'th set of escaped parentheses, e.g. "\(" "\(" and "\)".
"\)". For example, "s/abc\(.*\)def/\1/" "s/abc\(.*\)def/\1/" deletes
the strings "abc" "abc" and "def" "def" from the matched pattern.
The strings "\l", "\l", "\u", "\u", "\L" "\L" and "\U" "\U" can
be used to modify the case of elements in the replacement string. The
string "\l" "\l" causes the next character to be converted to lower-
case; the string "\u" "\u" behaves similarly, but converts to upper-
case (e.g. s/abc/\U&/ s/abc/\U&/ replaces the string abc abc with
ABC). ABC). The string "\L" "\L" causes characters up to the end of
the string or the next occurrence of the strings "\e" "\e" or "\E"
"\E" to be converted to lowercase; the string "\U" "\U" behaves simi-
larly, but converts to uppercase.
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If the entire replacement pattern is "%", "%", then the last
replacement pattern is used again.
In vi, inserting a <control-M> <control-M> into the replacement
string will cause the matched line to be split into two lines at that
point. (The <control-M> <control-M> will be discarded.)
10. Scripting Languages
The nvi editor currently supports two scripting languages, Tcl/Tk
and Perl. (Note that Perl4 isn't sufficient, and that the Perl5 used
must be version 5.002 or later. See the "Building Nvi" section for
more information.) Note that the Tcl/Tk interface is not supported in
the current version of OpenBSD.
The scripting language interface is still being worked on, there-
fore the following information is probably incomplete, probably wrong
in cases, and likely to change. See the perl_api perl_api and tcl_api
tcl_api source directories for more information. As a quick reference,
the following function calls are provided for both the Perl and Tcl
interfaces. The Perl interface uses a slightly different naming con-
vention, e.g. ``viFindScreen'' is named ``VI::FindScreen''.
viFindScreen file
Return the screenIdassociated screenIdassociated file. file.
viAppendLine screenId lineNumber text
Append text text as a new line after line number lineNumber,
lineNumber, in the screen screenId. screenId.
viDelLine screenId lineNum
Delete the line lineNumber lineNumber from the screen screenId.
screenId.
viGetLine screenId lineNumber
Return the line lineNumber lineNumber from the screen screenId.
screenId.
viInsertLine screenId lineNumber text
Insert text text as a new line before line number lineNumber
lineNumber in the screen screenId. screenId.
viLastLine screenId
Return the line number of the last line in the screen screenId.
screenId.
viSetLine screenId lineNumber text
Change the line lineNumber lineNumber in the screen screenId
screenId to match the specified text. text.
viGetMark screenId mark
Return the current line and column for the specified mark mark
from the screen screenId. screenId.
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viSetMark screenId mark line column
Set the specified mark mark to be at line line, line, column
column, column, in the screen screenId. screenId.
viGetCursor screenId
Return the current line and column for the cursor in the screen
screenId. screenId.
viSetCursor screenId line column
Set the cursor in the screen screenId screenId to the specified
line line and column. column.
viMsg screenId text
Display the specified text text as a vi message in the screen
screenId. screenId.
viNewScreen screenId [file]
Create a new screen.
viEndScreen screenId
Exit the screen screenId. screenId.
viSwitchScreen screenId screenId
Switch from the screen screenId screenId to the screen screenId.
screenId.
viMapKey screenId key tclproc
Map the specified key key in the screen screenId screenId to the
Tcl procedure tclproc. tclproc.
viUnmMapKey screenId key
Unmap the specified key key in the screen screenId screenId
viGetOpt screenId option
Return the value of the specified option option from the screen
screenId. screenId.
viSetOpt screenId command
Set one or more options in the screen screenId. screenId.
11. General Editor Description
When ex or vi are executed, the text of a file is read (or a tem-
porary file is created), and then all editing changes happen within
the context of the copy of the file. No changes affect the actual file
until the file is written out, either using a write command or another
command which is affected by the autowrite option.
All files are locked (using the flock(2) or fcntl(2) interfaces)
during the edit session, to avoid inadvertently making modifications
to multiple copies of the file. If a lock cannot be obtained for a
file because it is locked by another process, the edit session is
read-only (as if the readonly option or the -R flag had been
USD:13-16 Vi/Ex Reference
specified). If a lock cannot be obtained for other reasons, the edit
session will continue, but the file status information (see the
<control-G> command) will reflect this fact.
Both ex and vi are modeful editors, i.e. they have two modes,
"command" mode and "text input" mode. The former is intended to permit
you to enter commands which modifies already existing text. The latter
is intended to permit you to enter new text. When ex first starts run-
ning, it is in command mode, and usually displays a prompt (see the
prompt option for more information). The prompt is a single colon
(":") (":") character. There are three commands that switch ex into
text input mode: append, change and insert. Once in input mode, enter-
ing a line containing only a single period (".") (".") ends text input
mode and returns to command mode, where the prompt is redisplayed.
When vi first starts running, it is in command mode as well.
There are eleven commands that switch vi into text input mode: A, a,
C, c, I, i, O, o, R, S and s. Once in input mode, entering an <escape>
<escape> character ends text input mode and returns to command mode.
Ex/vi present three different interfaces to editing a file. Ex
presents a line oriented interface. Vi presents a full screen display
oriented interface, also known as "visual mode". In addition, there is
a third mode, "open mode", which is line oriented, but supports cursor
movement and editing within the displayed line, similarly to visual
mode. Open mode is not yet implemented in nvi.
The following words have special meanings in both the ex and vi
command descriptions:
<interrupt>
The interrupt character is used to interrupt the current opera-
tion. Normally <control-C>, <control-C>, whatever character is
set for the current terminal is used.
<literal-next>
The literal next character is used to escape the subsequent char-
acter from any special meaning. This character is always
<control-V>. <control-V>. If the terminal is not set up to do
XON/XOFF flow control, then <control-Q> <control-Q> is used to
mean literal next as well.
current pathname
The pathname of the file currently being edited by vi. When the
percent character ("%") ("%") appears in a file name entered as
part of an ex command argument, it is replaced by the current
pathname. (The "%" "%" character can be escaped by preceding it
with a backslash.)
alternate pathname
The name of the last file name mentioned in an ex command, or,
the previous current pathname if the last file mentioned becomes
the current file. When the hash mark character ("#") ("#")
Vi/Ex Reference USD:13-17
appears in a file name entered as part of an ex command argument,
it is replaced by the alternate pathname. (The "#" "#" character
can be escaped by preceding it with a backslash.)
buffer
One of a number of named areas for saving copies of text. Com-
mands that change or delete text can save the changed or deleted
text into a specific buffer, for later use, if the command allows
it (e.g. the ex change command cannot save the changed text in a
named buffer). Buffers are named with a single character, pre-
ceded by a double quote, i.e. "<character> "<character> in vi and
without the double quote, e.g. <character>, <character>, in ex.
(The double quote isn't necessary for ex because buffer names are
denoted by their position in the command line.) Historic imple-
mentations of ex/vi limited <character> <character> to the
alphanumeric characters; nex/nvi permits the use of any character
without another meaning in the position where a buffer name is
expected.
Buffers named by uppercase characters are the same as buffers
named by lowercase characters, e.g. the buffer named by the
English character "A" "A" is the same as the buffer named by the
character "a", "a", with the exception that, if the buffer con-
tents are being changed (as with a text deletion or vi change
command), the text is appended to the buffer, instead of replac-
ing the current contents.
The buffers named by the numeric characters (in English, "1" "1"
through "9"), "9"), are special. If a region of text including
characters from more than one line, or a single line of text
specified by using a line-oriented motion, is changed or deleted
in the file using the vi change or delete commands, a copy of the
text is placed into the numeric buffer "1", "1", regardless of
the user specifying another buffer in which to save it. In addi-
tion, there are a few commands which, when used as a motion
motion with the vi change and delete commands, always copy the
specified region of text into the numeric buffers regardless of
the region including characters from more than one line. These
commands are:
<control-A> % ( )
`<character> / ? N
n { }
Before this copy is done, the previous contents of buffer "1" "1"
are moved into buffer "2", "2", "2" "2" into buffer "3", "3", and
so on. The contents of buffer "9" "9" are discarded. In vi, text
may be explicitly stored into the numeric buffers. In this case,
the buffer rotation described above occurs before the replacement
of the buffer's contents. The numeric buffers are only available
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in visual visual and open open modes, and are not accessible by
ex in any way, although changed and deleted text is still stored
there while in ex mode.
When a vi command synopsis shows both a [buffer] [buffer] and a
[count], [count], they may be presented in any order.
Finally, all buffers are either "line" or "character" oriented.
All ex commands which store text into buffers are line oriented.
Some vi commands which store text into buffers are line oriented,
and some are character oriented; the description for each appli-
cable vi command notes whether text copied into buffers using the
command is line or character oriented. In addition, the vi com-
mand display buffers displays the current orientation for each
buffer. Generally, the only importance attached to this orienta-
tion is that if the buffer is subsequently inserted into the
text, line oriented buffers create new lines for each of the
lines they contain, and character oriented buffers create new
lines for any lines other than the first and last lines they con-
tain. The first and last lines are inserted into the text at the
current cursor position, becoming part of the current line. If
there is more than one line in the buffer, however, the current
line itself will be split.
unnamed buffer
The unnamed buffer is a text storage area which is used by com-
mands that use or operate on a buffer when no buffer is specified
by the user. If the command stores text into a buffer, the text
is stored into the unnamed buffer even if a buffer is also speci-
fied by the user. It is not possible to append text to the
unnamed buffer. If text is appended to a named buffer, the named
buffer contains both the old and new text, while the unnamed
buffer contains only the new text. There is no way to explicitly
reference the unnamed buffer.
Historically, the contents of the unnamed buffer were discarded
by many different commands, even ones that didn't store text into
it. Nex/nvi never discards the contents of the unnamed buffer
until new text replaces them.
whitespace
The characters <tab> and <space>.
<carriage-return>
The character represented by an ASCII <control-M>. <control-M>.
This character is almost always treated identically to a <new-
line> <newline> character, but differs in that it can be escaped
into the file text or into a command.
<newline>
The character represented by an ASCII <control-J>. <control-J>.
This character is almost always treated identically to a
<control-M> <control-M> character, but differs in that it cannot
Vi/Ex Reference USD:13-19
be escaped into the file text or into a command.
12. Vi Description
Vi takes up the entire screen to display the edited file, except
for the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line of the screen is
used to enter ex commands, and for vi error and informational mes-
sages. If no other information is being displayed, the default display
can show the current cursor row and cursor column, an indication of
whether the file has been modified, and the current mode of the edi-
tor. See the ruler and showmode options for more information.
Empty lines do not have any special representation on the screen,
but lines on the screen that would logically come after the end of the
file are displayed as a single tilde ("~") ("~") character. To dif-
ferentiate between empty lines and lines consisting of only whitespace
characters, use the list option. Historically, implementations of vi
have also displayed some lines as single asterisk ("@") ("@") charac-
ters. These were lines that were not correctly displayed, i.e. lines
on the screen that did not correspond to lines in the file, or lines
that did not fit on the current screen. Nvi never displays lines in
this fashion.
Vi is a modeful editor, i.e. it has two modes, "command" mode and
"text input" mode. When vi first starts, it is in command mode. There
are several commands that change vi into text input mode. The <escape>
<escape> character is used to resolve the text input into the file,
and exit back into command mode. In vi command mode, the cursor is
always positioned on the last column of characters which take up more
than one column on the screen. In vi text insert mode, the cursor is
positioned on the first column of characters which take up more than
one column on the screen.
When positioning the cursor to a new line and column, the type of
movement is defined by the distance to the new cursor position. If the
new position is close, the screen is scrolled to the new location. If
the new position is far away, the screen is repainted so that the new
position is on the screen. If the screen is scrolled, it is moved a
minimal amount, and the cursor line will usually appear at the top or
bottom of the screen. If the screen is repainted, the cursor line will
appear in the center of the screen, unless the cursor is sufficiently
close to the beginning or end of the file that this isn't possible. If
the leftright option is set, the screen may be scrolled or repainted
in a horizontal direction as well as in a vertical one.
A major difference between the historical vi presentation and nvi
is in the scrolling and screen oriented position commands: <control-
B>, <control-D>, <control-E>, <control-F>, <control-U>, <control-Y>,
H, L and M. In historical implementations of vi, these commands acted
on physical (as opposed to logical, or screen) lines. For lines that
were sufficiently long in relation to the size of the screen, this
meant that single line scroll commands might repaint the entire
screen, scrolling or screen positioning commands might not change the
USD:13-20 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
screen or move the cursor at all, and some lines simply could not be
displayed, even though vi would edit the file that contained them. In
nvi, these commands act on logical, i.e. screen lines. You are
unlikely to notice any difference unless you are editing files with
lines significantly longer than a screen width.
Vi keeps track of the currently "most attractive" cursor posi-
tion. Each command description (for commands that alter the current
cursor position), specifies if the cursor is set to a specific loca-
tion in the line, or if it is moved to the "most attractive cursor
position". The latter means that the cursor is moved to the cursor
position that is horizontally as close as possible to the current cur-
sor position. If the current line is shorter than the cursor position
vi would select, the cursor is positioned on the last character in the
line. (If the line is empty, the cursor is positioned on the first
column of the line.) If a command moves the cursor to the most attrac-
tive position, it does not alter the current cursor position, and a
subsequent movement will again attempt to move the cursor to that
position. Therefore, although a movement to a line shorter than the
currently most attractive position will cause the cursor to move to
the end of that line, a subsequent movement to a longer line will
cause the cursor to move back to the most attractive position.
In addition, the $ command makes the end of each line the most
attractive cursor position rather than a specific column.
Each vi command described below notes where the cursor ends up
after it is executed. This position is described in terms of charac-
ters on the line, i.e. "the previous character", or, "the last charac-
ter in the line". This is to avoid needing to continually refer to on
what part of the character the cursor rests.
The following words have special meaning for vi commands.
previous context
The position of the cursor before the command which caused the
last absolute movement was executed. Each vi command described in
the next section that is considered an absolute movement is so
noted. In addition, specifying any address to an ex command is
considered an absolute movement.
motion
A second vi command can be used as an optional trailing argument
to the vi <, >, !, c, d, y, and (depending on the tildeop option)
~ commands. This command indicates the end of the region of text
that's affected by the command. The motion command may be either
the command character repeated (in which case it means the
current line) or a cursor movement command. In the latter case,
the region affected by the command is from the starting or stop-
ping cursor position which comes first in the file, to immedi-
ately before the starting or stopping cursor position which comes
later in the file. Commands that operate on lines instead of
using beginning and ending cursor positions operate on all of the
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-21
lines that are wholly or partially in the region. In addition,
some other commands become line oriented depending on where in
the text they are used. The command descriptions below note these
special cases.
The following commands may all be used as motion components for
vi commands:
<control-A> <control-H> <control-J> <control-M>
<control-N> <control-P> <space> $
% '<character> ( )
+ , - /
0 ; ? B
E F G H
L M N T
W [[ ]] ^
_ `<character> b e
f h j k
l n t w
{ | }
The optional count prefix available for some of the vi commands
that take motion commands, or the count prefix available for the
vi commands that are used as motion components, may be included
and is always considered part of the motion argument. For exam-
ple, the commands "c2w" "c2w" and "2cw" "2cw" are equivalent, and
the region affected by the c command is two words of text. In
addition, if the optional count prefix is specified for both the
vi command and its motion component, the effect is multiplicative
and is considered part of the motion argument. For example, the
commands "4cw" "4cw" and "2c2w" "2c2w" are equivalent, and the
region affected by the c command is four words of text.
count
A positive number used as an optional argument to most commands,
either to give a size or a position (for display or movement com-
mands), or as a repeat count (for commands that modify text). The
count argument is always optional and defaults to 1 unless other-
wise noted in the command description.
When a vi command synopsis shows both a [buffer] [buffer] and
[count], [count], they may be presented in any order.
word
Generally, in languages where it is applicable, vi recognizes two
kinds of words. First, a sequence of letters, digits and under-
scores, delimited at both ends by: characters other than letters,
digits, or underscores, the beginning or end of a line, and the
beginning or end of the file. Second, a sequence of characters
other than letters, digits, underscores, or whitespace
USD:13-22 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
characters, delimited at both ends by: a letter, digit, under-
score, or whitespace character, the beginning or end of a line,
and the beginning or end of the file. For example, the characters
" !@#abc$%^ " " !@#abc$%^ " contain three words: "!@#", "!@#",
"abc" "abc" and "$%^". "$%^".
Groups of empty lines (or lines containing only whitespace char-
acters) are treated as a single word.
bigword
A set of non-whitespace characters preceded and followed by whi-
tespace characters or the beginning or end of the file or line.
For example, the characters " !@#abc$%^ " " !@#abc$%^ " contain
one bigword: "!@#abc$%^". "!@#abc$%^".
Groups of empty lines (or lines containing only whitespace char-
acters) are treated as a single bigword.
paragraph
An area of text that begins with either the beginning of a file,
an empty line, or a section boundary, and continues until either
an empty line, section boundary, or the end of the file.
Groups of empty lines (or lines containing only whitespace char-
acters) are treated as a single paragraph.
Additional paragraph boundaries can be defined using the para-
graphs option.
section
An area of text that starts with the beginning of the file or a
line whose first character is an open brace ("{") ("{") and con-
tinues until the next section or the end of the file.
Additional section boundaries can be defined using the sections
option.
sentence
An area of text that begins with either the beginning of the file
or the first nonblank character following the previous sentence,
paragraph, or section boundary and continues until the end of the
file or a period (".") (".") exclamation point ("!") ("!") or
question mark ("?") ("?") character, followed by either an end-
of-line or two whitespace characters. Any number of closing
parentheses (")"), (")"), brackets ("]"), ("]"), double-quote
(""") (""") or single quote ("'") ("'") characters can appear
between the period, exclamation point, or question mark and the
whitespace characters or end-of-line.
Groups of empty lines (or lines containing only whitespace char-
acters) are treated as a single sentence.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-23
13. Vi Commands
The following section describes the commands available in the
command mode of the vi editor. In each entry below, the tag line is a
usage synopsis for the command character. In addition, the final line
and column the cursor rests upon, and any options which affect the
command are noted.
[count] <control-A>
Search forward count count times for the current word. The
current word begins at the first non-whitespace character on or
after the current cursor position, and extends up to the next
non-word character or the end of the line. The search is literal,
i.e. no characters in the word have any special meaning in terms
of Regular Expressions. It is an error if no matching pattern is
found between the starting position and the end of the file.
The <control-A> command is an absolute movement. The <control-A>
command may be used as the motion component of other vi commands,
in which case any text copied into a buffer is character
oriented.
Line: Set to the line where the word is found.
Column: Set to the first character of the word.
Options: Affected by the ignorecase and wrapscan options.
[count] <control-B>
Page backward count count screens. Two lines of overlap are main-
tained, if possible, by displaying the window starting at line
(top_line - count * window_size) + 2, (top_line - count *
window_size) + 2, where window_size window_size is the value of
the window option. (In the case of split screens, this size is
corrected to the current screen size.) It is an error if the
movement is past the beginning of the file.
Line: Set to the last line of text displayed on the screen.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the line.
Options: Affected by the window option.
[count] <control-D>
Scroll forward count count lines. If count count is not speci-
fied, scroll forward the number of lines specified by the last
<control-D> or <control-U> command. If this is the first
<control-D> or <control-U> command, scroll forward half the
number of lines in the screen. (In the case of split screens, the
default scrolling distance is corrected to half the current
screen size.) It is an error if the movement is past the end of
the file.
Line: Set to the current line plus the number of lines
scrolled.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the line.
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Options: None.
[count] <control-E>
Scroll forward count count lines, leaving the cursor on the
current line and column, if possible. It is an error if the move-
ment is past the end of the file.
Line: Unchanged unless the current line scrolls off the
screen, in which case it is set to the first line on the
screen.
Column: Unchanged unless the current line scrolls off the
screen, in which case it is set to the most attractive
cursor position.
Options: None.
[count] <control-F>
Page forward count count screens. Two lines of overlap are main-
tained, if possible, by displaying the window starting at line
top_line + count * window_size - 2, top_line + count *
window_size - 2, where window_size window_size is the value of
the window option. (In the case of split screens, this size is
corrected to the current screen size.) It is an error if the
movement is past the end of the file.
Line: Set to the first line on the screen.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the current line.
Options: Affected by the window option.
<control-G>
Display the file information. The information includes the
current pathname, the current line, the number of total lines in
the file, the current line as a percentage of the total lines in
the file, if the file has been modified, was able to be locked,
if the file's name has been changed, and if the edit session is
read-only.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[count] <control-H>
[count] h
Move the cursor back count count characters in the current line.
It is an error if the cursor is on the first character in the
line.
The <control-H> and h commands may be used as the motion com-
ponent of other vi commands, in which case any text copied into a
buffer is character oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the current - count current - count character,
or, the first character in the line if count count is
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-25
greater than or equal to the number of characters in the
line before the cursor.
Options: None.
[count] <control-J>
[count] <control-N>
[count] j
Move the cursor down count count lines without changing the
current column. It is an error if the movement is past the end of
the file.
The <control-J>, <control-N> and j commands may be used as the
motion component of other vi commands, in which case any text
copied into a buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to the current line plus count. count.
Column: The most attractive cursor position.
Options: None.
<control-L>
<control-R>
Repaint the screen.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[count] <control-M>
[count] +
Move the cursor down count count lines to the first nonblank
character of that line. It is an error if the movement is past
the end of the file.
The <control-M> and + commands may be used as the motion com-
ponent of other vi commands, in which case any text copied into a
buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to the current line plus count. count.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
[count] <control-P>
[count] k
Move the cursor up count count lines, without changing the
current column. It is an error if the movement is past the begin-
ning of the file.
The <control-P> and k commands may be used as the motion com-
ponent of other vi commands, in which case any text copied into a
buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to the current line minus count. count.
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Column: The most attractive cursor position.
Options: None.
<control-T>
Return to the most recent tag context. The <control-T> command is
an absolute movement.
Line: Set to the context of the previous tag command.
Column: Set to the context of the previous tag command.
Options: None.
[count] <control-U>
Scroll backward count count lines. If count count is not speci-
fied, scroll backward the number of lines specified by the last
<control-D> or <control-U> command. If this is the first
<control-D> or <control-U> command, scroll backward half the
number of lines in the screen. (In the case of split screens, the
default scrolling distance is corrected to half the current
screen size.) It is an error if the movement is past the begin-
ning of the file.
Line: Set to the current line minus the amount scrolled.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
<control-W>
Switch to the next lower screen in the window, or, to the first
screen if there are no lower screens in the window.
Line: Set to the previous cursor position in the window.
Column: Set to the previous cursor position in the window.
Options: None.
[count] <control-Y>
Scroll backward count count lines, leaving the current line and
column as is, if possible. It is an error if the movement is past
the beginning of the file.
Line: Unchanged unless the current line scrolls off the
screen, in which case it is set to the last line of text
displayed on the screen.
Column: Unchanged unless the current line scrolls off the
screen, in which case it is the most attractive cursor
position.
Options: None.
<control-Z>
Suspend the current editor session. If the file has been modified
since it was last completely written, and the autowrite option is
set, the file is written before the editor session is suspended.
If this write fails, the editor session is not suspended.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-27
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the autowrite option.
<escape>
Execute ex commands or cancel partial commands. If an ex command
is being entered (e.g. /, ?, : or !), the command is executed. If
a partial command has been entered, e.g. "[0-9]*", "[0-9]*", or
"[0-9]*[!<>cdy]", "[0-9]*[!<>cdy]", the command is cancelled.
Otherwise, it is an error.
Line: When an ex command is being executed, the current line
is set as described for that command. Otherwise,
unchanged.
Column: When an ex command is being executed, the current column
is set as described for that command. Otherwise,
unchanged.
Options: None.
<control-]>
Push a tag reference onto the tag stack. The tags files (see the
tags option for more information) are searched for a tag matching
the current word. The current word begins at the first non-
whitespace character on or after the current cursor position, and
extends up to the next non-word character or the end of the line.
If a matching tag is found, the current file is discarded and the
file containing the tag reference is edited.
If the current file has been modified since it was last com-
pletely written, the command will fail. The <control-]> command
is an absolute movement.
Line: Set to the line containing the matching tag string.
Column: Set to the start of the matching tag string.
Options: Affected by the tags and taglength options.
<control-^>
Switch to the most recently edited file.
If the file has been modified since it was last completely writ-
ten, and the autowrite option is set, the file is written out. If
this write fails, the command will fail. Otherwise, if the
current file has been modified since it was last completely writ-
ten, the command will fail.
Line: Set to the line the cursor was on when the file was last
edited.
Column: Set to the column the cursor was on when the file was
last edited.
Options: Affected by the autowrite option.
[count] <space>
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[count] l
Move the cursor forward count count characters without changing
the current line. It is an error if the cursor is on the last
character in the line.
The <space> and l commands may be used as the motion component of
other vi commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is
character oriented. In addition, these commands may be used as
the motion components of other commands when the cursor is on the
last character in the line, without error.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the current character plus the next count count
characters, or to the last character on the line if
count count is greater than the number of characters in
the line after the current character.
Options: None.
[count] ! motion shell-argument(s)<carriage-return>
Replace text with results from a shell command. Pass the lines
specified by the count count and motion motion arguments as stan-
dard input to the program named by the shell option, and replace
those lines with the output (both standard error and standard
output) of that command.
After the motion is entered, vi prompts for arguments to the
shell command.
Within those arguments, "%" "%" and "#" "#" characters are
expanded to the current and alternate pathnames, respectively.
The "!" "!" character is expanded with the command text of the
previous ! or :! commands. (Therefore, the command !<motion>!
repeats the previous ! command.) The special meanings of "%",
"%", "#" "#" and "!" "!" can be overridden by escaping them with
a backslash. If no ! or :! command has yet been executed, it is
an error to use an unescaped "!" "!" character as a shell argu-
ment. The ! command does not do shell expansion on the strings
provided as arguments. If any of the above expansions change the
arguments the user entered, the command is redisplayed at the
bottom of the screen.
Vi then executes the program named by the shell option, with a -c
flag followed by the arguments (which are bundled into a single
argument).
The ! command is permitted in an empty file.
If the file has been modified since it was last completely writ-
ten, the ! command will warn you.
Line: The first line of the replaced text.
Column: The first column of the replaced text.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-29
Options: Affected by the shell option.
[count] # #|+|-
Increment or decrement the number referenced by the cursor. If
the trailing character is a + + or #, #, the number is incre-
mented by count. count. If the trailing character is a -, -, the
number is decremented by count. count.
A leading "0X" "0X" or "0x" "0x" causes the number to be inter-
preted as a hexadecimal number. Otherwise, a leading "0" "0"
causes the number to be interpreted as an octal number, unless a
non-octal digit is found as part of the number. Otherwise, the
number is interpreted as a decimal number, and may have a leading
+ + or - - sign. The current number begins at the first non-blank
character at or after the current cursor position, and extends up
to the end of the line or the first character that isn't a possi-
ble character for the numeric type. The format of the number
(e.g. leading 0's, signs) is retained unless the new value cannot
be represented in the previous format.
Octal and hexadecimal numbers, and the result of the operation,
must fit into an "unsigned long". "unsigned long". Similarly,
decimal numbers and their result must fit into a "signed long".
"signed long". It is an error to use this command when the cursor
is not positioned at a number.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the first character in the cursor number.
Options: None.
[count] $
Move the cursor to the end of a line. If count count is speci-
fied, the cursor moves down count - 1 count - 1 lines.
It is not an error to use the $ command when the cursor is on the
last character in the line or when the line is empty.
The $ command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented, unless the cursor is at, or before the first non-
blank character in the line, in which case it is line oriented.
It is not an error to use the $ command as a motion component
when the cursor is on the last character in the line, although it
is an error when the line is empty.
Line: Set to the current line plus count count minus 1.
Column: Set to the last character in the line.
Options: None.
%
Move to the matching character. The cursor moves to the
parenthesis or curly brace which matches the parenthesis or curly
USD:13-30 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
brace found at the current cursor position or which is the
closest one to the right of the cursor on the line. It is an
error to execute the % command on a line without a parenthesis or
curly brace. Historically, any count count specified to the %
command was ignored.
The % command is an absolute movement. The % command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting point of the region is at or before the first nonblank
character on its line, and the ending point is at or after the
last nonblank character on its line, in which case it is line
oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the matching character.
Column: Set to the matching character.
Options: None.
&
Repeat the previous substitution command on the current line.
Historically, any count count specified to the & command was
ignored.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged if the cursor was on the last character in the
line, otherwise set to the first nonblank character in
the line.
Options: Affected by the edcompatible, extended, ignorecase and
magic options.
'<character>
`<character>
Return to a context marked by the character <character>. <charac-
ter>. If <character> <character> is the "'" "'" or "`" "`" char-
acter, return to the previous context. If <character> <character>
is any other character, return to the context marked by that
character (see the m command for more information). If the com-
mand is the ' command, only the line value is restored, and the
cursor is placed on the first nonblank character of that line. If
the command is the ` command, both the line and column values are
restored.
It is an error if the context no longer exists because of line
deletion. (Contexts follow lines that are moved, or which are
deleted and then restored.)
The ' and ` commands are both absolute movements. They may be
used as a motion component for other vi commands. For the ' com-
mand, any text copied into a buffer is line oriented. For the `
command, any text copied into a buffer is character oriented,
unless it both starts and stops at the first character in the
line, in which case it is line oriented. In addition, when using
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-31
the ` command as a motion component, commands which move backward
and started at the first character in the line, or move forward
and ended at the first character in the line, are corrected to
the last character of the line preceding the starting and ending
lines, respectively.
Line: Set to the line from the context.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line, for the
' command, and set to the context's column for the `
command.
Options: None.
[count] (
Back up count count sentences.
The ( command is an absolute movement. The ( command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting and stopping points of the region are the first charac-
ter in the line, in which case it is line oriented. If it is line
oriented, the starting point of the region is adjusted to be the
end of the line immediately before the starting cursor position.
Line: Set to the line containing the beginning of the sen-
tence.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the sentence.
Options: Affected by the lisp option.
[count] )
Move forward count count sentences.
The ) command is an absolute movement. The ) command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting point of the region is the first character in the line,
in which case it is line oriented. In the latter case, if the
stopping point of the region is also the first character in the
line, it is adjusted to be the end of the line immediately before
it.
Line: Set to the line containing the beginning of the sen-
tence.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the sentence.
Options: Affected by the lisp option.
[count] ,
Reverse find character count count times. Reverse the last F, f,
T or t command, searching the other way in the line, count count
times. It is an error if a F, f, T or t command has not been per-
formed yet.
The , command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is
USD:13-32 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
character oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the searched-for character for the F and f com-
mands, before the character for the t command and after
the character for the T command.
Options: None.
[count] -
Move to the first nonblank of the previous line, count count
times.
It is an error if the movement is past the beginning of the file.
The - command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is line
oriented.
Line: Set to the current line minus count. count.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
[count] .
Repeat the last vi command that modified text. The repeated com-
mand may be a command and motion component combination. If count
count is specified, it replaces both the count specified for the
repeated command, and, if applicable, for the repeated motion
component. If count count is not specified, the counts originally
specified to the command being repeated are used again.
As a special case, if the . command is executed immediately after
the u command, the change log is rolled forward or backward,
depending on the action of the u command.
Line: Set as described for the repeated command.
Column: Set as described for the repeated command.
Options: None.
/RE<carriage-return>
/RE/ [offset]<carriage-return>
?RE<carriage-return>
?RE? [offset]<carriage-return>
N
n
Search forward or backward for a regular expression. The commands
beginning with a slash ("/") ("/") character are forward
searches, the commands beginning with a question mark ("?") ("?")
are backward searches. Vi prompts with the leading character on
the last line of the screen for a string. It then searches for-
ward or backward in the file for the next occurrence of the
string, which is interpreted as a Basic Regular Expression.
The / and ? commands are absolute movements. They may be used as
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-33
the motion components of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
search started and ended on the first column of a line, in which
case it is line oriented. In addition, forward searches ending at
the first character of a line, and backward searches beginning at
the first character in the line, are corrected to begin or end at
the last character of the previous line. (Note, forward and back-
ward searches can occur for both / and ? commands, if the
wrapscan option is set.)
If an offset from the matched line is specified (i.e. a trailing
"/" "/" or "?" "?" character is followed by a signed offset), the
buffer will always be line oriented (e.g. "/string/+0"
"/string/+0" will always guarantee a line orientation).
The N command repeats the previous search, but in the reverse
direction. The n command repeats the previous search. If either
the N or n commands are used as motion components for the ! com-
mand, you will not be prompted for the text of the bang command;
instead the previous bang command will be executed.
Missing RE's (e.g. "//<carriage-return>", "//<carriage-return>",
"/<carriage-return>", "/<carriage-return>", "??<carriage-
return>", "??<carriage-return>", or "?<carriage-return>"
"?<carriage-return>" search for the last search RE, in the indi-
cated direction.
Searches may be interrupted using the <interrupt> <interrupt>
character.
Multiple search patterns may be grouped together by delimiting
them with semicolons and zero or more whitespace characters, e.g.
/foo/ ; ?bar? /foo/ ; ?bar? searches forward for foo foo and
then, from that location, backwards for bar. bar. When search
patterns are grouped together in this manner, the search patterns
are evaluated left to right with the final cursor position deter-
mined by the last search pattern.
It is also permissible to append a z command to the search
strings, e.g. /foo/ z. /foo/ z. searches forward for the next
occurrence of foo, foo, and then positions that line in the mid-
dle of screen.
Line: Set to the line in which the match occurred.
Column: Set to the first character of the matched string.
Options: Affected by the edcompatible, extended, ignorecase,
magic, and wrapscan options.
0
Move to the first character in the current line. It is not an
error to use the 0 command when the cursor is on the first char-
acter in the line,
USD:13-34 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
The 0 command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case it is an error if the cursor is on the
first character in the line, and any text copied into a buffer is
character oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the first character in the line.
Options: None.
:
Execute an ex command. Vi prompts for an ex command on the last
line of the screen, using a colon (":") (":") character. The com-
mand is terminated by a <carriage-return>, <carriage-return>,
<newline> <newline> or <escape> <escape> character; all of these
characters may be escaped by using a <literal-next> <literal-
next> character. The command is then executed.
If the ex command writes to the screen, vi will prompt the user
for a <carriage-return> <carriage-return> before continuing when
the ex command finishes. Large amounts of output from the ex com-
mand will be paged for the user, and the user prompted for a
<carriage-return> <carriage-return> or <space> <space> key to
continue. In some cases, a quit (normally a "q" character) or
<interrupt> <interrupt> may be entered to interrupt the ex com-
mand.
When the ex command finishes, and the user is prompted to resume
visual mode, it is also possible to enter another ":" ":" charac-
ter followed by another ex command.
Line: The current line is set as described for the ex command.
Column: The current column is set as described for the ex com-
mand.
Options: Affected as described for the ex command.
[count] ;
Repeat the last character find count count times. The last char-
acter find is one of the F, f, T or t commands. It is an error if
a F, f, T or t command has not been performed yet.
The ; command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the searched-for character for the F and f com-
mands, before the character for the t command and after
the character for the T command.
Options: None.
[count] < motion
[count] > motion
Shift lines left or right. Shift the number of lines in the
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-35
region specified by the count count and motion motion left (for
the < command) or right (for the > command) by the number of
columns specified by the shiftwidth option. Only whitespace char-
acters are deleted when shifting left. Once the first character
in the line no longer contains a whitespace character, the com-
mand will succeed, but the line will not be modified.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: Affected by the shiftwidth option.
@ buffer
Execute a named buffer. Execute the named buffer as vi commands.
The buffer may include ex commands, too, but they must be
expressed as a : command. If the buffer is line oriented, <new-
line> <newline> characters are logically appended to each line of
the buffer. If the buffer is character oriented, <newline> <new-
line> characters are logically appended to all but the last line
in the buffer.
If the buffer name is "@", "@", or "*", "*", then the last buffer
executed shall be used. It is an error to specify "@@" "@@" or
"@*" "@*" if there were no previous buffer executions. The text
of a buffer may contain a @ command, and it is possible to create
infinite loops in this manner. (The <interrupt> <interrupt> char-
acter may be used to interrupt the loop.)
Line: The current line is set as described for the command(s).
Column: The current column is set as described for the
command(s).
Options: None.
[count] A
Enter input mode, appending the text after the end of the line.
If count count is specified, the text is repeatedly input count -
1 count - 1 more times after input mode is exited.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[count] B
Move backward count count bigwords. Move the cursor backward to
the beginning of a bigword by repeating the following algorithm:
if the current position is at the beginning of a bigword or the
character at the current position cannot be part of a bigword,
move to the first character of the preceding bigword. Otherwise,
move to the first character of the bigword at the current posi-
tion. If no preceding bigword exists on the current line, move to
the first character of the last bigword on the first preceding
line that contains a bigword.
USD:13-36 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
The B command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the word selected.
Column: Set to the first character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] C
Change text from the current position to the end-of-line. If
count count is specified, the input text replaces from the
current position to the end-of-line, plus count - 1 count - 1
subsequent lines.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[buffer] D
Delete text from the current position to the end-of-line.
It is not an error to execute the D command on an empty line.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the character before the current character, or,
column 1 if the cursor was on column 1.
Options: None.
[count] E
Move forward count count end-of-bigwords. Move the cursor forward
to the end of a bigword by repeating the following algorithm: if
the current position is the end of a bigword or the character at
that position cannot be part of a bigword, move to the last char-
acter of the following bigword. Otherwise, move to the last char-
acter of the bigword at the current position. If no succeeding
bigword exists on the current line, move to the last character of
the first bigword on the next following line that contains a big-
word.
The E command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the word selected.
Column: Set to the last character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[count] F <character>
Search count count times backward through the current line for
<character>. <character>.
The F command may be used as the motion component of other vi
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-37
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the searched-for character.
Options: None.
[count] G
Move to line count, count, or the last line of the file if count
count not specified.
The G command is an absolute movement. The G command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to count, count, if specified, otherwise the last
line.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
[count] H
Move to the screen line count - 1 count - 1 lines below the top
of the screen.
The H command is an absolute movement. The H command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to the line count - 1 count - 1 lines below the top
of the screen.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the screen line.
Options: None.
[count] I
Enter input mode, inserting the text at the beginning of the
line. If count count is specified, the text input is repeatedly
input count - 1 count - 1 more times.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: None.
[count] J
Join lines. If count count is specified, count count lines are
joined; a minimum of two lines are always joined, regardless of
the value of count. count.
If the current line ends with a whitespace character, all whi-
tespace is stripped from the next line. Otherwise, if the next
line starts with a open parenthesis ("(") ("(") do nothing. Oth-
erwise, if the current line ends with a question mark ("?"),
("?"), period (".") (".") or exclamation point ("!"), ("!"),
insert two spaces. Otherwise, insert a single space.
USD:13-38 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
It is not an error to join lines past the end of the file, i.e.
lines that do not exist.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the character after the last character of the
next-to-last joined line.
Options: None.
[count] L
Move to the screen line count - 1 count - 1 lines above the bot-
tom of the screen.
The L command is an absolute movement. The L command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is line oriented.
Line: Set to the line count - 1 count - 1 lines above the bot-
tom of the screen.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the screen line.
Options: None.
M
Move to the screen line in the middle of the screen.
The M command is an absolute movement. The M command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is line oriented.
Historically, any count count specified to the M command was
ignored.
Line: Set to the line in the middle of the screen.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the screen line.
Options: None.
[count] O
Enter input mode, appending text in a new line above the current
line. If count count is specified, the text input is repeatedly
input count - 1 count - 1 more times.
Historically, any count count specified to the O command was
ignored.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[buffer] P
Insert text from a buffer. Text from the buffer (the unnamed
buffer by default) is inserted before the current column or, if
the buffer is line oriented, before the current line.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-39
Line: Set to the lowest numbered line insert, if the buffer is
line oriented, otherwise unchanged.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the appended
text, if the buffer is line oriented, otherwise the last
character of the appended text.
Options: None.
Q
Exit vi (or visual) mode and switch to ex mode.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: No longer relevant.
Options: None.
[count] R
Enter input mode, replacing the characters in the current line.
If count count is specified, the text input is repeatedly input
count - 1 count - 1 more times.
If the end of the current line is reached, no more characters are
replaced and any further characters input are appended to the
line.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[buffer] [count] S
Substitute count count lines.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[count] T <character>
Search backward, count count times, through the current line for
the character after the specified <character>. <character>.
The T command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the character after the searched-for character.
Options: None.
U
Restore the current line to its state before the cursor last
moved to it.
USD:13-40 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
Line: Unchanged.
Column: The first character in the line.
Options: None.
[count] W
Move forward count count bigwords. Move the cursor forward to the
beginning of a bigword by repeating the following algorithm: if
the current position is within a bigword or the character at that
position cannot be part of a bigword, move to the first character
of the next bigword. If no subsequent bigword exists on the
current line, move to the first character of the first bigword on
the first following line that contains a bigword.
The W command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: The line containing the word selected.
Column: The first character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] X
Delete count count characters before the cursor. If the number of
characters to be deleted is greater than or equal to the number
of characters to the beginning of the line, all of the characters
before the current cursor position, to the beginning of the line,
are deleted.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the current character minus count, count, or the
first character if count is greater than the number of
characters in the line before the cursor.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] Y
Copy (or "yank") count count lines into the specified buffer.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged.
Options: None.
ZZ
Write the file and exit vi. The file is only written if it has
been modified since the last complete write of the file to any
file.
The ZZ command will exit the editor after writing the file, if
there are no further files to edit. Entering two "quit" commands
(i.e. wq, quit, xit or ZZ) in a row will override this check and
the editor will exit, ignoring any files that have not yet been
edited.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-41
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[count] [[
Back up count count section boundaries.
The [[ command is an absolute movement. The [[ command may be
used as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case
any text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting position is column 0, in which case it is line oriented.
It is an error if the movement is past the beginning of the file.
Line: Set to the previous line that is count count section
boundaries back, or the first line of the file if no
more section boundaries exist preceding the current
line.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: Affected by the sections option.
[count] ]]
Move forward count count section boundaries.
The ]] command is an absolute movement. The ]] command may be
used as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case
any text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting position is column 0, in which case it is line oriented.
It is an error if the movement is past the end of the file.
Line: Set to the line that is count count section boundaries
forward, or to the last line of the file if no more sec-
tion boundaries exist following the current line.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: Affected by the sections option.
^
Move to first nonblank character on the current line.
The ^ command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the current line.
Options: None.
[count] _
Move down count - 1 count - 1 lines, to the first nonblank char-
acter. The _ command may be used as the motion component of other
vi commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is line
oriented.
USD:13-42 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
It is not an error to execute the _ command when the cursor is on
the first character in the line.
Line: The current line plus count - 1. count - 1.
Column: The first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
[count] a
Enter input mode, appending the text after the cursor. If count
count is specified, the text input is repeatedly input count - 1
count - 1 more times.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[count] b
Move backward count count words. Move the cursor backward to the
beginning of a word by repeating the following algorithm: if the
current position is at the beginning of a word, move to the first
character of the preceding word. Otherwise, the current position
moves to the first character of the word at the current position.
If no preceding word exists on the current line, move to the
first character of the last word on the first preceding line that
contains a word.
The b command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the word selected.
Column: Set to the first character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] c motion
Change the region of text specified by the count count and
motion. motion. If only part of a single line is affected, then
the last character being changed is marked with a "$". "$". Oth-
erwise, the region of text is deleted, and input mode is entered.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[buffer] [count] d motion
Delete the region of text specified by the count count and
motion. motion.
Line: Set to the line where the region starts.
Column: Set to the first character in the line after the last
character in the region. If no such character exists,
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-43
set to the last character before the region.
Options: None.
[count] e
Move forward count count end-of-words. Move the cursor forward to
the end of a word by repeating the following algorithm: if the
current position is the end of a word, move to the last character
of the following word. Otherwise, move to the last character of
the word at the current position. If no succeeding word exists on
the current line, move to the last character of the first word on
the next following line that contains a word.
The e command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the word selected.
Column: Set to the last character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[count] f <character>
Search forward, count count times, through the rest of the
current line for <character>. <character>.
The f command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the searched-for character.
Options: None.
[count] i
Enter input mode, inserting the text before the cursor. If count
count is specified, the text input is repeatedly input count - 1
count - 1 more times.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
m <character>
Save the current context (line and column) as <character>. <char-
acter>. The exact position is referred to by "`<character>".
"`<character>". The line is referred to by "'<character>".
"'<character>".
Historically, <character> <character> was restricted to lower-
case letters. Nvi permits the use of any character.
Line: Unchanged.
USD:13-44 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
Column: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[count] o
Enter input mode, appending text in a new line under the current
line. If count count is specified, the text input is repeatedly
input count - 1 count - 1 more times.
Historically, any count count specified to the o command was
ignored.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
[buffer] p
Append text from a buffer. Text from the buffer (the unnamed
buffer by default) is appended after the current column or, if
the buffer is line oriented, after the current line.
Line: Set to the first line appended, if the buffer is line
oriented, otherwise unchanged.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character of the appended text
if the buffer is line oriented, otherwise the last char-
acter of the appended text.
Options: None.
[count] r <character>
Replace characters. The next count count characters in the line
are replaced with <character>. <character>. Replacing characters
with <newline> <newline> characters results in creating new,
empty lines into the file.
If <character> <character> is <escape>, <escape>, the command is
cancelled.
Line: Unchanged unless the replacement character is a <new-
line>, <newline>, in which case it is set to the current
line plus count - 1. count - 1.
Column: Set to the last character replaced, unless the replace-
ment character is a <newline>, <newline>, in which case
the cursor is in column 1 of the last line inserted.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] s
Substitute count count characters in the current line starting
with the current character.
Line: Set to the last line upon which characters were entered.
Column: Set to the last character entered.
Options: Affected by the altwerase, autoindent, beautify,
showmatch, ttywerase and wrapmargin options.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-45
[count] t <character>
Search forward, count count times, through the current line for
the character immediately before <character>. <character>.
The t command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the character before the searched-for character.
Options: None.
u
Undo the last change made to the file. If repeated, the u command
alternates between these two states, and is its own inverse. When
used after an insert that inserted text on more than one line,
the lines are saved in the numeric buffers.
The . command, when used immediately after the u command, causes
the change log to be rolled forward or backward, depending on the
action of the u command.
Line: Set to the position of the first line changed, if the
reversal affects only one line or represents an addition
or change; otherwise, the line preceding the deleted
text.
Column: Set to the cursor position before the change was made.
Options: None.
[count] w
Move forward count count words. Move the cursor forward to the
beginning of a word by repeating the following algorithm: if the
current position is at the beginning of a word, move to the first
character of the next word. If no subsequent word exists on the
current line, move to the first character of the first word on
the first following line that contains a word.
The w command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the word selected.
Column: Set to the first character of the word selected.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] x
Delete count count characters. The deletion is at the current
character position. If the number of characters to be deleted is
greater than or equal to the number of characters to the end of
the line, all of the characters from the current cursor position
to the end of the line are deleted.
USD:13-46 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Unchanged unless the last character in the line is
deleted and the cursor is not already on the first char-
acter in the line, in which case it is set to the previ-
ous character.
Options: None.
[buffer] [count] y motion
Copy (or "yank") the text region specified by the count count and
motion, motion, into a buffer.
Line: Unchanged, unless the region covers more than a single
line, in which case it is set to the line where the
region starts.
Column: Unchanged, unless the region covers more than a single
line, in which case it is set to the character were the
region starts.
Options: None.
[count1] z [count2] type
Redraw the screen with a window count2 count2 lines long, with
line count1 count1 placed as specified by the type type charac-
ter. If count1 count1 is not specified, it defaults to the
current line. If count2 count2 is not specified, it defaults to
the current window size.
The following type type characters may be used:
+ If count1 count1 is specified, place the line count1
count1 at the top of the screen. Otherwise, display the
screen after the current screen, similarly to the
<control-F> command.
<carriage-return>
Place the line count1 count1 at the top of the screen.
. Place the line count1 count1 in the center of the
screen.
- Place the line count1 count1 at the bottom of the
screen.
^ If count1 count1 is specified, place the line that is at
the top of the screen when count1 count1 is at the bot-
tom of the screen, at the bottom of the screen, i.e.
display the screen before the screen before count1.
count1. Otherwise, display the screen before the current
screen, similarly to the <control-B> command.
Line: Set to count1 count1 unless count1 count1 is not speci-
fied and the type type character was either "^" "^" or
"+", "+", in which case it is set to the line before the
first line on the previous screen or the line after the
last line on the previous screen, respectively.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: None.
Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands) USD:13-47
[count] {
Move backward count count paragraphs.
The { command is an absolute movement. The { command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting character is the first character on its line, in which
case it is line oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the beginning of the previous
paragraph.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: Affected by the paragraph option.
[count] |
Move to a specific column position on the current line.
The | command may be used as the motion component of other vi
commands, in which case any text copied into a buffer is charac-
ter oriented. It is an error to use the | command as a motion
component and for the cursor not to move.
Line: Unchanged.
Column: Set to the character occupying the column position iden-
tified by count, count, if the position exists in the
line. If the column length of the current line is less
than count, count, the cursor is moved to the last char-
acter in the line.
Options: None.
[count] }
Move forward count count paragraphs.
The } command is an absolute movement. The } command may be used
as the motion component of other vi commands, in which case any
text copied into a buffer is character oriented, unless the
starting character is at or before any nonblank characters in its
line, in which case it is line oriented.
Line: Set to the line containing the beginning of the next
paragraph.
Column: Set to the first nonblank character in the line.
Options: Affected by the paragraph option.
[count] ~
Reverse the case of the next count count character(s). This is
the historic semantic for the ~ command and it is only in effect
if the tildeop option is not set.
Lowercase alphabetic characters are changed to uppercase, and
uppercase characters are changed to lowercase. No other charac-
ters are affected.
USD:13-48 Vi/Ex Reference (Vi Commands)
Historically, the ~ command did not take an associated count, nor
did it move past the end of the current line. As it had no asso-
ciated motion it was difficult to change the case of large blocks
of text. In nvi, if the cursor is on the last character of a
line, and there are more lines in the file, the cursor moves to
the next line.
It is not an error to specify a count larger than the number of
characters between the cursor and the end of the file.
Line: Set to the line of the character after count count char-
acters, or, end of file.
Column: Set to the character after count count characters, or,
end-of-file.
Options: Affected by the tildeop option.
[count] ~ motion
Reverse the case of the characters in a text region specified by
the count count and motion. motion. Only in effect if the tildeop
option is set.
Lowercase characters are changed to uppercase, and uppercase
characters are changed to lowercase. No other characters are
affected.
Line: Set to the line of the character after the last charac-
ter in the region.
Column: Set to the character after the last character in the
region.
Options: Affected by the tildeop option.
<interrupt>
Interrupt the current operation. Many of the potentially long-
running vi commands may be interrupted using the terminal inter-
rupt character. These operations include searches, file reading
and writing, filter operations and map character expansion.
Interrupts are also enabled when running commands outside of vi.
If the <interrupt> <interrupt> character is used to interrupt
while entering an ex command, the command is aborted, the cursor
returns to its previous position, and vi remains in command mode.
Generally, if the <interrupt> <interrupt> character is used to
interrupt any operation, any changes made before the interrupt
are left in place.
Line: Dependent on the operation being interrupted.
Column: Dependent on the operation being interrupted.
Options: None.
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14. Vi Text Input Commands
The following section describes the commands available in
the text input mode of the vi editor.
Historically, vi implementations only permitted the charac-
ters inserted on the current line to be erased. In addition, only
the <control-D> <control-D> erase character and the "0<control-
D>" "0<control-D>" and "^<control-D>" "^<control-D>" erase
strings could erase autoindent characters. (Autoindent characters
include both the characters inserted automatically at the begin-
ning of an input line as well as characters inserted using the
<control-T> <control-T> command.) This implementation permits
erasure to continue past the beginning of the current line, and
back to where text input mode was entered. In addition, autoin-
dent characters may be erased using the standard erase charac-
ters. For the line and word erase characters, reaching the
autoindent characters forms a "soft" boundary, denoting the end
of the current word or line erase. Repeating the word or line
erase key will erase the autoindent characters.
Historically, vi always used <control-H> <control-H> and
<control-W> <control-W> as character and word erase characters,
respectively, regardless of the current terminal settings. This
implementation accepts, in addition to these two characters, the
current terminal characters for those operations.
<nul>
If the first character of the input is a <nul>, <nul>, the
previous input is replayed, as if just entered.
<control-D>
If the previous character on the line was an autoindent
character, erase characters to move the cursor back to the
column immediately after the previous (1-based) column which
is a multiple of the shiftwidth edit option. This may result
in any number of <tab> <tab> and <space> <space> characters
preceding the cursor being changed.
Otherwise, if the autoindent option is set and the user is
entering the first character in the line, <control-D>
<control-D> is ignored. Otherwise, a literal <control-D>
<control-D> character is entered.
^<control-D>
If the previous character on the line was an autoindent
character, erase all of the autoindent characters on the
line. In addition, the autoindent level is reset to 0.
0<control-D>
If the previous character on the line was an autoindent
character, erase all of the autoindent characters on the
line. The autoindent level is not altered.
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<control-T>
Insert sufficient <tab> <tab> and <space> <space> characters
to move the cursor forward to the column immediately after
the next (1-based) column which is a multiple of the
shiftwidth edit option. This may result in any number of
<tab> <tab> and <space> <space> characters preceding the
cursor being changed.
Historically, vi did not permit the <control-T> <control-T>
command to be used unless the cursor was at the first column
of a new line or it was preceded only by autoindent charac-
ters. Nvi permits it to be used at any time during insert
mode.
<erase>
<control-H>
Erase the last character.
<literal-next>
Quote the next character. The next character will not be
mapped (see the map command for more information) or inter-
preted specially. A caret ("^") ("^") character will be
displayed immediately as a placeholder, but will be replaced
by the next character.
<escape>
If on the colon command line, and the filec edit option is
set, behave as described for that option. Otherwise, if on
the colon command line, execute the command. Otherwise, if
not on the colon command line, resolve all text input into
the file, and return to command mode.
<line erase>
Erase the current line.
<control-W>
<word erase>
Erase the last word. The definition of word is dependent on
the altwerase and ttywerase options.
<control-X>[0-9A-Fa-f]+
Insert a character with the specified hexadecimal value into
the text. The value is delimited by any non-hexadecimal
character or the input of the maximum number of characters
that can be translated into a single character value.
<interrupt>
Interrupt text input mode, returning to command mode. If the
<interrupt> <interrupt> character is used to interrupt
inserting text into the file, it is as if the <escape>
<escape> character was used; all text input up to the
interruption is resolved into the file.
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15. Ex Addressing
Addressing in ex (and when ex commands are executed from vi)
relates to the current line. In general, the current line is the
last line affected by a command. The exact effect on the current
line is discussed under the description of each command. When the
file contains no lines, the current line is zero.
Addresses are constructed by one or more of the following
methods:
(1) The address "." "." refers to the current line.
(2) The address "$" "$" refers to the last line of the file.
(3) The address "N", "N", where N N is a positive number,
refers to the N-th line of the file.
(4) The address "'<character>" "'<character>" or "`<charac-
ter>" "`<character>" refers to the line marked with the
named <character>. <character>. (See the k or m commands
for more information on how to mark lines.)
(5) A regular expression (RE) enclosed by slashes ("/") ("/")
is an address, and it refers to the first line found by
searching forward from the line after the current line
toward the end of the file, and stopping at the first line
containing a string matching the RE. (The trailing slash
can be omitted at the end of the command line.)
If no RE is specified, i.e. the pattern is "//", "//", the
last RE used in any command is used in the search.
If the extended option is set, the RE is handled as an
extended RE, not a basic RE. If the wrapscan option is
set, the search wraps around to the beginning of the file
and continues up to and including the current line, so
that the entire file is searched.
The form "\/" "\/" is accepted for historic reasons, and
is identical to "//". "//".
(6) An RE enclosed in question marks ("?") ("?") addresses the
first line found by searching backward from the line
preceding the current line, toward the beginning of the
file and stopping at the first line containing a string
matching the RE. (The trailing question mark can be omit-
ted at the end of a command line.)
If no RE is specified, i.e. the pattern is "??", "??", the
last RE used in any command is used in the search.
If the extended option is set, the RE is handled as an
USD:13-52 Vi/Ex Reference
extended RE, not a basic RE. If the wrapscan option is
set, the search wraps around from the beginning of the
file to the end of the file and continues up to and
including the current line, so that the entire file is
searched.
The form "\?" "\?" is accepted for historic reasons, and
is identical to "??". "??".
(7) An address followed by a plus sign ("+") ("+") or a minus
sign ("-") ("-") followed by a number is an offset address
and refers to the address plus (or minus) the indicated
number of lines. If the address is omitted, the addition
or subtraction is done with respect to the current line.
(8) An address of "+" "+" or "-" "-" followed by a number is
an offset from the current line. For example, "-5" "-5" is
the same as ".-5". ".-5".
(9) An address ending with "+" "+" or "-" "-" has 1 added to
or subtracted from the address, respectively. As a conse-
quence of this rule and of the previous rule, the address
"-" "-" refers to the line preceding the current line.
Moreover, trailing "+" "+" and "-" "-" characters have a
cumulative effect. For example, "++-++" "++-++" refers to
the current line plus 3.
(10) A percent sign ("%") ("%") is equivalent to the address
range "1,$". "1,$".
Ex commands require zero, one, or two addresses. It is an
error to specify an address to a command which requires zero
addresses.
If the user provides more than the expected number of
addresses to any ex command, the first addresses specified are
discarded. For example, "1,2,3,5"print "1,2,3,5"print prints
lines 3 through 5, because the print command only takes two
addresses.
The addresses in a range are separated from each other by a
comma (",") (",") or a semicolon (";"). (";"). In the latter
case, the current line (".") (".") is set to the first address,
and only then is the second address calculated. This feature can
be used to determine the starting line for forward and backward
searches (see rules (5) and (6) above). The second address of any
two-address sequence corresponds to a line that follows, in the
file, the line corresponding to the first address. The first
address must be less than or equal to the second address. The
first address must be greater than or equal to the first line of
the file, and the last address must be less than or equal to the
last line of the file.
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-53
16. Ex Description
The following words have special meanings for ex commands.
<end-of-file>
The end-of-file character is used to scroll the screen in
the ex editor. This character is normally <control-D>.
<control-D>. However, whatever character is set for the
current terminal is supported as well as <control-D>.
<control-D>.
line
A single-line address, given in any of the forms described
in the section entitled "Ex Addressing". The default for
line line is the current line.
range
A line, or a pair of line addresses, separated by a comma or
semicolon. (See the section entitled "Ex Addressing" for
more information.) The default for range is the current line
only, i.e. ".,.". ".,.". A percent sign ("%") ("%") stands
for the range "1,$". "1,$". The starting address must be
less than, or equal to, the ending address.
count
A positive integer, specifying the number of lines to be
affected by the command; the default is 1. Generally, a
count past the end-of-file may be specified, e.g. the com-
mand "p 3000" "p 3000" in a 10 line file is acceptable, and
will print from the current line through the last line in
the file.
flags
One or more of the characters "#", "p", and "l". When a com-
mand that accepts these flags completes, the addressed
line(s) are written out as if by the corresponding #, l or p
commands. In addition, any number of "+" "+" or "-" "-"
characters can be specified before, after, or during the
flags, in which case the line written is not necessarily the
one affected by the command, but rather the line addressed
by the offset address specified. The default for flags flags
is none.
file
A pattern used to derive a pathname; the default is the
current file. File names are subjected to normal sh(1) word
expansions.
Anywhere a file name is specified, it is also possible to
use the special string "/tmp". "/tmp". This will be replaced with
a temporary file name which can be used for temporary work, e.g.
":e /tmp" ":e /tmp" creates and edits a new file.
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If both a count and a range are specified for commands that
use either, the starting line for the command is the last line
addressed by the range, and count- count- subsequent lines are
affected by the command, e.g. the command "2,3p4" "2,3p4" prints
out lines 3, 4, 5 and 6.
When only a line or range is specified, with no command, the
implied command is print. When no range or count is specified and
the command line is a blank line, the current line is incremented
by 1 and then the current line is displayed.
Zero or more whitespace characters may precede or follow the
addresses, count, flags, or command name. Any object following a
command name (such as buffer, file, etc.), that begins with an
alphabetic character, should be separated from the command name
by at least one whitespace character.
Any character, including <carriage-return>, <carriage-
return>, "%" "%" and "#" "#" retain their literal value when pre-
ceded by a backslash.
17. Ex Commands
The following section describes the commands available in
the ex editor. In each entry below, the tag line is a usage
synopsis for the command.
Each command can be entered as the abbreviation (those char-
acters in the synopsis command word preceding the "[" character),
the full command (all characters shown for the command word,
omitting the "[" and "]" characters), or any leading subset of
the full command down to the abbreviation. For example, the args
command (shown as "ar[gs]" "ar[gs]" in the synopsis) can be
entered as "ar", "ar", "arg" "arg" or "args". "args".
Each ex command described below notes the new current line
after it is executed, as well as any options that affect the com-
mand.
"
A comment. Command lines beginning with the double-quote
character (""") (""") are ignored. This permits comments in
editor scripts and startup files.
<control-D>
<end-of-file>
Scroll the screen. Write the next N lines, where N is the
value of the scroll option. The command is the end-of-file
terminal character, which may be different on different ter-
minals. Traditionally, it is the <control-D> <control-D>
key.
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-55
Historically, the eof command ignored any preceding count,
and the <end-of-file> <end-of-file> character was ignored
unless it was entered as the first character of the command.
This implementation treats it as a command only if entered
as the first character of the command line, and otherwise
treats it as any other character.
Line: Set to the last line written.
Options: Affected by the scroll option.
! argument(s)
[range]! argument(s)
Execute a shell command, or filter lines through a shell
command. In the first synopsis, the remainder of the line
after the "!" "!" character is passed to the program named
by the shell option, as a single argument.
Within the rest of the line, "%" "%" and "#" "#" are
expanded into the current and alternate pathnames, respec-
tively. The character "!" "!" is expanded with the command
text of the previous ! command. (Therefore, the command !!
repeats the previous ! command.) The special meanings of
"%", "%", "#", "#", and "!" "!" can be overridden by escap-
ing them with a backslash. If no ! or :! command has yet
been executed, it is an error to use an unescaped "!" "!"
character. The ! command does not do shell expansion on the
strings provided as arguments. If any of the above expan-
sions change the command the user entered, the command is
redisplayed at the bottom of the screen.
Ex then executes the program named by the shell option, with
a -c flag followed by the arguments (which are bundled into
a single argument).
The ! command is permitted in an empty file.
If the file has been modified since it was last completely
written, the command will warn you.
A single "!" "!" character is displayed when the command
completes.
In the second form of the ! command, the remainder of the
line after the "!" "!" is passed to the program named by the
shell option, as described above. The specified lines are
passed to the program as standard input, and the standard
and standard error output of the program replace the origi-
nal lines.
Line: Unchanged if no range was specified, otherwise set
to the first line of the range.
Options: Affected by the shell and warn options.
USD:13-56 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
[range] # [count] [flags]
[range] nu[mber] [count] [flags]
Display the selected lines, each preceded with its line
number.
The line number format is "%6d", followed by two spaces.
Line: Set to the last line displayed.
Options: Affected by the list option.
@ buffer
* buffer
Execute a buffer. Each line in the named buffer is executed
as an ex command. If no buffer is specified, or if the
specified buffer is "@" "@" or "*", "*", the last buffer
executed is used.
[range] <[< ...] [count] [flags]
Shift lines left or right. The specified lines are shifted
to the left (for the < command) or right (for the > com-
mand), by the number of columns specified by the shiftwidth
option. Only leading whitespace characters are deleted when
shifting left; once the first column of the line contains a
nonblank character, the shift command will succeed, but the
line will not be modified.
If the command character < or > is repeated more than once,
the command is repeated once for each additional command
character.
Line: If the current line is set to one of the lines that
are affected by the command, it is unchanged. Oth-
erwise, it is set to the first nonblank character
of the lowest numbered line shifted.
Options: Affected by the shiftwidth option.
[line] = [flags]
Display the line number of line line (which defaults to the
last line in the file).
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[range] >[> ...] [count] [flags]
Shift right. The specified lines are shifted to the right by
the number of columns specified by the shiftwidth option, by
inserting tab and space characters. Empty lines are not
changed.
If the command character ">" ">" is repeated more than once,
the command is repeated once for each additional command
character.
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-57
Line: Set to the last line modified by the command.
Options: Affected by the shiftwidth option.
ab[breviate] lhs rhs
Add an abbreviation to the current abbreviation list. When
inserting text in vi, each time a non-word character is
entered after a word character, a set of characters ending
at the word character are checked for a match with lhs. lhs.
If a match is found, they are replaced with rhs. rhs. Abbre-
viations must end with a word character, and may not mix
word/non-word characters (except at the end).
For example, the abbreviations:
:abbreviate abc ABC
:abbreviate #i #include
:abbreviate /*#i /*#include
will all work, while the abbreviations:
:abbreviate a#i A#include
:abbreviate /* /********************
will not work, and are not permitted by nvi.
To keep the abbreviation expansion from happening, the char-
acter immediately following the lhs lhs characters should be
quoted with a <literal-next> <literal-next> character.
The replacement rhs rhs is itself subject to both further
abbreviation expansion and further map expansion.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[line] a[ppend][!]
The input text is appended to the specified line. If line 0
is specified, the text is inserted at the beginning of the
file. Set to the last line input. If no lines are input,
then set to line, line, or to the first line of the file if
a line line of 0 was specified. Following the command name
with a "!" "!" character causes the autoindent option to be
toggled for the duration of the command.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the autoindent and number options.
ar[gs]
Display the argument list. The current argument is displayed
inside of "[" "[" and "]" "]" characters. The argument list
USD:13-58 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
is the list of operands specified on startup, which can be
replaced using the next command.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
bg
Vi mode only. Background the current screen. The screen is
unchanged, but is no longer accessible and disappears from
the display. Use the fg command to bring the screen back to
the display foreground.
Line: Set to the current line when the screen was last
edited.
Options: None.
[range] c[hange][!] [count]
Replace the lines with input text. Following the command
name with a "!" "!" character causes the autoindent option
to be toggled for the duration of the command.
Line: Set to the last line input, or, if no lines were
input, set to the line before the target line, or
to the first line of the file if there are no lines
preceding the target line.
Options: Affected by the autoindent and number options.
chd[ir][!] [directory]
cd[!] [directory]
Change the current working directory. The directory direc-
tory argument is subjected to sh(1) word expansions. When
invoked with no directory argument and the HOME HOME
environment variable is set, the directory named by the HOME
HOME environment variable becomes the new current directory.
Otherwise, the new current directory becomes the directory
returned by the getpwent(3) routine.
The chdir command will fail if the file has been modified
since the last complete write of the file. You can override
this check by appending a "!" "!" character to the command.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the cdpath option.
[range] co[py] line [flags]
[range] t line [flags]
Copy the specified lines (range) after the destination line.
Line 0 may be specified to insert the lines at the beginning
of the file.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-59
cs[cope] command [args]
Execute a cscope command. For more information, see the sec-
tion of the reference manual entitled "Tags, Tag Stacks, and
Cscope".
[range] d[elete] [buffer] [count] [flags]
Delete the lines from the file. The deleted text is saved in
the specified buffer, or, if no buffer is specified, in the
unnamed buffer. If the command name is followed by a letter
that could be interpreted as either a buffer name or a flag
value (because neither a count count or flags flags values
were given), ex treats the letter as a flags flags value if
the letter immediately follows the command name, without any
whitespace separation. If the letter is preceded by whi-
tespace characters, it treats it as a buffer name.
Line: Set to the line following the deleted lines, or to
the last line if the deleted lines were at the end.
Options: None.
di[splay] b[uffers] | c[onnections] | s[creens] | t[ags]
Display buffers, cscope connections, screens or tags. The
display command takes one of three additional arguments,
which are as follows:
b[uffers]
Display all buffers (including named, unnamed, and
numeric) that contain text.
c[onnections]
Display the source directories for all attached
cscope databases.
s[creens]
Display the file names of all background screens.
t[ags] Display the tags stack.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
e[dit][!] [+cmd] [file]
ex[!] [+cmd] [file]
Edit a different file. If the current buffer has been modi-
fied since the last complete write, the command will fail.
You can override this by appending a "!" "!" character to
the command name.
If the "+cmd" "+cmd" option is specified, that ex command
will be executed in the new file. Any ex command may be
used, although the most common use of this feature is to
specify a line number or search pattern to set the initial
location in the new file.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Edit or
Ex, while in vi mode, will edit the file in a new screen. In
USD:13-60 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
this case, any modifications to the current file are
ignored.
Line: If you have previously edited the file, the current
line will be set to your last position in the file.
If that position does not exist, or you have not
previously edited the file, the current line will
be set to the first line of the file if you are in
vi mode, and the last line of the file if you are
in ex.
Options: None.
exu[sage] [command]
Display usage for an ex command. If command command is
specified, a usage statement for that command is displayed.
Otherwise, usage statements for all ex commands are
displayed.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
f[ile] [file]
Display and optionally change the file name. If a file name
is specified, the current pathname is changed to the speci-
fied name. The current pathname, the number of lines, and
the current position in the file are displayed.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
fg [name]
Vi mode only. Foreground the specified screen. If the argu-
ment name doesn't exactly match the name of a file displayed
by a background screen, it is compared against the last com-
ponent of each of the file names. If no background screen is
specified, the first background screen is foregrounded.
By default, foregrounding causes the current screen to be
swapped with the backgrounded screen. Capitalizing the first
letter of the command, i.e. Fg, will foreground the back-
grounded screen in a new screen instead of swapping it with
the current screen.
Line: Set to the current line when the screen was last
edited.
Options: None.
[range] g[lobal] /pattern/ [commands]
[range] v /pattern/ [commands]
Apply commands to lines matching (or not matching) a pat-
tern. The lines within the given range that match
("g[lobal]"), ("g[lobal]"), or do not match ("v") ("v") the
given pattern are selected. Then, the specified ex
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-61
command(s) are executed with the current line (".") (".")
set to each selected line. If no range is specified, the
entire file is searched for matching, or not matching,
lines.
Multiple commands can be specified, one per line, by escap-
ing each <newline> <newline> character with a backslash, or
by separating commands with a "|" "|" character. If no com-
mands are specified, the command defaults to the print com-
mand.
For the append, change and insert commands, the input text
must be part of the global command line. In this case, the
terminating period can be omitted if it ends the commands.
The visual command may also be specified as one of the ex
commands. In this mode, input is taken from the terminal.
Entering a Q command in vi mode causes the next line match-
ing the pattern to be selected and vi to be reentered, until
the list is exhausted.
The global, v and undo commands cannot be used as part of
these commands.
The editor options autoindent, autoprint and report are
turned off for the duration of the global and v commands.
Line: The last line modified.
Options: Affected by the ignorecase and magic options. Turns
off the autoindent, autoprint and report options.
he[lp]
Display a help message.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[line] i[nsert][!]
The input text is inserted before the specified line. Fol-
lowing the command name with a "!" "!" character causes the
autoindent option setting to be toggled for the duration of
this command.
Line: Set to the last line input; if no lines were input,
set to the line before the target line, or to the
first line of the file if there are no lines
preceding the target line. Affected by the autoin-
dent and number options.
[range] j[oin][!] [count] [flags]
Join lines of text together.
A count count specified to the command specifies that the
USD:13-62 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
last line of the range range plus count count subsequent
lines will be joined. (Note, this differs by one from the
general rule where only count- count- subsequent lines are
affected.)
If the current line ends with a whitespace character, all
whitespace is stripped from the next line. Otherwise, if the
next line starts with a open parenthesis ("("), ("("), do
nothing. Otherwise, if the current line ends with a question
mark ("?"), ("?"), period (".") (".") or exclamation point
("!"), ("!"), insert two spaces. Otherwise, insert a single
space.
Appending a "!" "!" character to the command name causes a
simpler join with no whitespace processing.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[range] l[ist] [count] [flags]
Display the lines unambiguously. Tabs are displayed as "^I",
"^I", and the end of the line is marked with a "$" "$" char-
acter.
Line: Set to the last line displayed.
Options: Affected by the number option.
map[!] [lhs rhs]
Define or display maps (for vi only).
If "lhs" "lhs" and "rhs" "rhs" are not specified, the
current set of command mode maps are displayed. If a "!" "!"
character is appended to to the command, the text input mode
maps are displayed.
Otherwise, when the "lhs" "lhs" character sequence is
entered in vi, the action is as if the corresponding "rhs"
"rhs" had been entered. If a "!" "!" character is appended
to the command name, the mapping is effective during text
input mode, otherwise, it is effective during command mode.
This allows "lhs" "lhs" to have two different macro defini-
tions at the same time: one for command mode and one for
input mode.
Whitespace characters require escaping with a <literal-next>
<literal-next> character to be entered in the lhs lhs string
in visual mode.
Normally, keys in the rhs rhs string are remapped (see the
remap option), and it is possible to create infinite loops.
However, keys which map to themselves are not further
remapped, regardless of the setting of the remap option. For
example, the command ":map n nz." ":map n nz." maps the "n"
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-63
"n" key to the n and z commands.
To exit an infinitely looping map, use the terminal <inter-
rupt> <interrupt> character.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the remap option.
[line] ma[rk] <character>
[line] k <character>
Mark the line with the mark <character>. <character>. The
expressions "'<character>" "'<character>" and "`<character>"
"`<character>" can then be used as an address in any command
that uses one.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[range] m[ove] line
Move the specified lines after the target line. A target
line of 0 places the lines at the beginning of the file.
Line: Set to the first of the moved lines.
Options: None.
mk[exrc][!] file
Write the abbreviations, editor options and maps to the
specified file. Information is written in a form which can
later be read back in using the ex source command. If file
file already exists, the mkexrc command will fail. This
check can be overridden by appending a "!" "!" character to
the command.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
n[ext][!] [file ...]
Edit the next file from the argument list. The next command
will fail if the file has been modified since the last com-
plete write. This check can be overridden by appending the
"!" "!" character to the command name. The argument list can
optionally be replaced by specifying a new one as arguments
to this command. In this case, editing starts with the first
file on the new list.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Next,
while in vi mode, will set the argument list and edit the
file in a new screen. In this case, any modifications to the
current file are ignored.
Line: Set as described for the edit command.
Options: Affected by the options autowrite and writeany.
USD:13-64 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
pre[serve]
Save the file in a form that can later be recovered using
the ex -r option. When the file is preserved, an email mes-
sage is sent to the user.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
prev[ious][!]
Edit the previous file from the argument list. The previous
command will fail if the file has been modified since the
last complete write. This check can be overridden by append-
ing the "!" "!" character to the command name.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Previous,
while in vi mode, will edit the file in a new screen. In
this case, any modifications to the current file are
ignored.
Line: Set as described for the edit command.
Options: Affected by the options autowrite and writeany.
None.
[range] p[rint] [count] [flags]
Display the specified lines.
Line: Set to the last line displayed.
Options: Affected by the list and number option.
[line] pu[t] [buffer]
Append buffer contents to the current line. If a buffer is
specified, its contents are appended to the line, otherwise,
the contents of the unnamed buffer are used.
Line: Set to the line after the current line.
Options: None.
q[uit][!]
End the editing session. If the file has been modified since
the last complete write, the quit command will fail. This
check may be overridden by appending a "!" "!" character to
the command.
If there are more files to edit, the quit command will fail.
Appending a "!" "!" character to the command name or enter-
ing two quit commands (i.e. wq, quit, xit or ZZ) in a row
will override this check and the editor will exit.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[line] r[ead][!] [file]
Read a file. A copy of the specified file is appended to the
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-65
line. If line line is 0, the copy is inserted at the begin-
ning of the file. If no file is specified, the current file
is read; if there is no current file, then file file becomes
the current file. If there is no current file and no file
file is specified, then the read command will fail.
If file file is preceded by a "!" "!" character, file file
is treated as if it were a shell command, and passed to the
program named by the shell edit option. The standard and
standard error outputs of that command are read into the
file after the specified line. The special meaning of the
"!" "!" character can be overridden by escaping it with a
backslash ("\") ("\") character.
Line: When executed from ex, the current line is set to
the last line read. When executed from vi, the
current line is set to the first line read.
Options: None.
rec[over] file
Recover file file if it was previously saved. If no saved
file by that name exists, the recover command behaves
equivalently to the edit command.
Line: Set as described for the edit command.
Options: None.
res[ize] [+|-]size
Vi mode only. Grow or shrink the current screen. If size
size is a positive, signed number, the current screen is
grown by that many lines. If size size is a negative, signed
number, the current screen is shrunk by that many lines. If
size size is not signed, the current screen is set to the
specified size. size. Applicable only to split screens.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
rew[ind][!]
Rewind the argument list. If the current file has been modi-
fied since the last complete write, the rewind command will
fail. This check may be overridden by appending the "!" "!"
character to the command.
Otherwise, the current file is set to the first file in the
argument list.
Line: Set as described for the edit command.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
se[t] [option[=[value]] ...] [nooption ...] [option? ...] [all]
Display or set editor options. When no arguments are speci-
fied, the editor option term, and any editor options whose
USD:13-66 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
values have been changed from the default settings are
displayed. If the argument all all is specified, the values
of all of editor options are displayed.
Specifying an option name followed by the character "?" "?"
causes the current value of that option to be displayed. The
"?" "?" can be separated from the option name by whitespace
characters. The "?" "?" is necessary only for Boolean valued
options. Boolean options can be given values by the form
"set option" "set option" to turn them on, or "set nooption"
"set nooption" to turn them off. String and numeric options
can be assigned by the form "set option=value". "set
option=value". Any whitespace characters in strings can be
included literally by preceding each with a backslash. More
than one option can be set or listed by a single set com-
mand, by specifying multiple arguments, each separated from
the next by whitespace characters.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
sh[ell]
Run the shell program. The program named by the shell option
is run with a -i (for interactive) flag. Editing is resumed
when that program exits.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the shell option.
so[urce] file
Read and execute ex commands from a file. Source commands
may be nested.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[range] s[ubstitute] [/pattern/replace/] [options] [count]
[flags]
[range] & [options] [count] [flags]
[range] ~ [options] [count] [flags]
Make substitutions. Replace the first instance of pattern
pattern with the string replace replace on the specified
line(s). If the "/pattern/replace/" "/pattern/replace/"
argument is not specified, the "/pattern/replace/"
"/pattern/replace/" from the previous substitute command is
used. Any character other than an alphabetic, numeric,
<blank> or backslash character may be used as the delimiter.
If options options includes the letter "c" "c" (confirm),
you will be prompted for confirmation before each replace-
ment is done. An affirmative response (in English, a "y" "y"
character) causes the replacement to be made. A quit
response (in English, a "q" "q" character) causes the
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-67
substitute command to be terminated. Any other response
causes the replacement not to be made, and the substitute
command continues. If options options includes the letter
"g" "g" (global), all nonoverlapping instances of pattern
pattern in the line are replaced.
The & version of the command is the same as not specifying a
pattern or replacement string to the substitute command, and
the "&" "&" is replaced by the pattern and replacement
information from the previous substitute command.
The ~ version of the command is the same as & and s, except
that the search pattern used is the last RE used in any com-
mand, not necessarily the one used in the last substitute
command.
For example, in the sequence
s/red/blue/
/green
~
the "~" "~" is equivalent to "s/green/blue/".
"s/green/blue/".
The substitute command may be interrupted, using the termi-
nal interrupt character. All substitutions completed before
the interrupt are retained.
Line: Set to the last line upon which a substitution was
made.
Options: Affected by the ignorecase and magic option.
su[spend][!]
st[op][!]
<control-Z>
Suspend the edit session. Appending a "!" "!" character to
these commands turns off the autowrite option for the com-
mand.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
ta[g][!] tagstring
Edit the file containing the specified tag. If the tag is in
a different file, then the new file is edited. If the
current file has been modified since the last complete
write, the tag command will fail. This check can be overrid-
den by appending the "!" "!" character to the command name.
The tag command searches for tagstring tagstring in the tags
file(s) specified by the option. (See ctags(1) for more
information on tags files.)
USD:13-68 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Tag,
while in vi mode, will edit the file in a new screen. In
this case, any modifications to the current file are
ignored.
Line: Set to the line indicated by the tag.
Options: Affected by the autowrite, taglength, tags and wri-
teany options.
tagn[ext][!]
Edit the file containing the next context for the current
tag. If the context is in a different file, then the new
file is edited. If the current file has been modified since
the last complete write, the tagnext command will fail. This
check can be overridden by appending the "!" "!" character
to the command name.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Tagnext,
while in vi mode, will edit the file in a new screen. In
this case, any modifications to the current file are
ignored.
Line: Set to the line indicated by the tag.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
tagp[op][!] [file | number]
Pop to the specified tag in the tags stack. If neither file
file or number number is specified, the tagpop command pops
to the most recent entry on the tags stack. If file file or
number number is specified, the tagpop command pops to the
most recent entry in the tags stack for that file, or num-
bered entry in the tags stack, respectively. (See the
display command for information on displaying the tags
stack.)
If the file has been modified since the last complete write,
the tagpop command will fail. This check may be overridden
by appending a "!" "!" character to the command name.
Line: Set to the line indicated by the tag.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
tagp[rev][!]
Edit the file containing the previous context for the
current tag. If the context is in a different file, then the
new file is edited. If the current file has been modified
since the last complete write, the tagprev command will
fail. This check can be overridden by appending the "!" "!"
character to the command name.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Tagprev,
while in vi mode, will edit the file in a new screen. In
this case, any modifications to the current file are
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-69
ignored.
Line: Set to the line indicated by the tag.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
tagt[op][!]
Pop to the least recent tag on the tags stack, clearing the
tags stack.
If the file has been modified since the last complete write,
the tagtop command will fail. This check may be overridden
by appending a "!" "!" character to the command name.
Line: Set to the line indicated by the tag.
Options: Affected by the autowrite and writeany options.
una[bbreviate] lhs
Delete an abbreviation. Delete lhs lhs from the current list
of abbreviations.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
u[ndo]
Undo the last change made to the file. Changes made by glo-
bal, v, visual and map sequences are considered a single
command. If repeated, the u command alternates between these
two states, and is its own inverse.
Line: Set to the last line modified by the command.
Options: None.
unm[ap][!] lhs
Unmap a mapped string. Delete the command mode map defini-
tion for lhs. lhs. If a "!" "!" character is appended to the
command name, delete the text input mode map definition
instead.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
ve[rsion]
Display the version of the ex/vi editor.
[line] vi[sual] [type] [count] [flags]
Ex mode only. Enter vi. The type type is optional, and can
be "-", "-", "+" "+" or "^", "^", as in the ex z command, to
specify the position of the specified line in the screen
window. (The default is to place the line at the top of the
screen window.) A count count specifies the number of lines
that will initially be displayed. (The default is the value
of the window editor option.)
USD:13-70 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
Line: Unchanged unless line line is specified, in which
case it is set to that line.
Options: None.
vi[sual][!] [+cmd] [file]
Vi mode only. Edit a new file. Identical to the "edit[!]
[+cmd] [file]" "edit[!] [+cmd] [file]" command.
Capitalizing the first letter of the command, i.e. Visual,
will edit the file in a new screen. In this case, any modif-
ications to the current file are ignored.
viu[sage] [command]
Display usage for a vi command. If command command is speci-
fied, a usage statement for that command is displayed. Oth-
erwise, usage statements for all vi commands are displayed.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[range] w[rite][!] [>>] [file]
[range] w[rite] [!] [file]
[range] wn[!] [>>] [file]
[range] wq[!] [>>] [file]
Write the file. The specified lines (the entire file, if no
range is given) is written to file. file. If file file is
not specified, the current pathname is used. If file file is
specified, and it exists, or if the current pathname was set
using the file command, and the file already exists, these
commands will fail. Appending a "!" "!" character to the
command name will override this check and the write will be
attempted, regardless.
Specifying the optional ">>" ">>" string will cause the
write to be appended to the file, in which case no tests are
made for the file already existing.
If the file is preceded by a "!" "!" character, the program
named by the shell edit option is invoked with file as its
second argument, and the specified lines are passed as stan-
dard input to that command. The "!" "!" in this usage must
be separated from command name by at least one whitespace
character. The special meaning of the "!" "!" may be over-
ridden by escaping it with a backslash ("\") ("\") charac-
ter.
The wq version of the write command will exit the editor
after writing the file, if there are no further files to
edit. Appending a "!" "!" character to the command name or
entering two "quit" commands (i.e. wq, quit, xit or ZZ) in a
row will override this check and the editor will exit,
ignoring any files that have not yet been edited.
Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands) USD:13-71
The wn version of the write command will move to the next
file after writing the file, unless the write fails.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the readonly and writeany options.
[range] x[it][!] [file]
Write the file if it has been modified. The specified lines
are written to file, file, if the file has been modified
since the last complete write to any file. If no range range
is specified, the entire file is written.
The xit command will exit the editor after writing the file,
if there are no further files to edit. Appending a "!" "!"
character to the command name or entering two "quit" com-
mands (i.e. wq, quit, xit or ZZ) in a row will override this
check and the editor will exit, ignoring any files that have
not yet been edited.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: Affected by the readonly and writeany options.
[range] ya[nk] [buffer] [count]
Copy the specified lines to a buffer. If no buffer is speci-
fied, the unnamed buffer is used.
Line: Unchanged.
Options: None.
[line] z [type] [count] [flags]
Adjust the window. If no type type is specified, then count
count lines following the specified line are displayed. The
default count count is the value of the window option. The
type type argument changes the position at which line line
is displayed on the screen by changing the number of lines
displayed before and after line. line. The following type
type characters may be used:
- Place the line at the bottom of the screen.
+ Place the line at the top of the screen.
. Place the line in the middle of the screen.
^ Write out count lines starting count * 2 count * 2
lines before line; line; the net effect of this is
that a "z^" "z^" command following a z command
writes the previous page.
= Center line line on the screen with a line of
hyphens displayed immediately before and after it.
The number of preceding and following lines of text
displayed are reduced to account for those lines.
Line: Set to the last line displayed, with the exception
of the type, type, where the current line is set to
the line specified by the command.
USD:13-72 Vi/Ex Reference (Ex Commands)
Options: Affected by the scroll option.
18. Set Options
There are a large number of options that may be set (or
unset) to change the editor's behavior. This section describes
the options, their abbreviations and their default values.
In each entry below, the first part of the tag line is the
full name of the option, followed by any equivalent abbrevia-
tions. (Regardless of the abbreviations, it is only necessary to
use the minimum number of characters necessary to distinguish an
abbreviation from all other commands for it to be accepted, in
nex/nvi. Historically, only the full name and the official abbre-
viations were accepted by ex/vi. Using full names in your startup
files and environment variables will probably make them more
portable.) The part in square brackets is the default value of
the option. Most of the options are boolean, i.e. they are either
on or off, and do not have an associated value.
Options apply to both ex and vi modes, unless otherwise
specified.
With a few exceptions, all options are settable per screen,
i.e. the tags option can be set differently in each screen. The
exceptions are the columns, lines, secure and term options.
Changing these options modifies the respective information for
all screens.
For information on modifying the options or to display the
options and their current values, see the "set" command in the
section entitled "Ex Commands".
altwerase [off]
Vi only. Change how vi does word erase during text input.
When this option is set, text is broken up into three
classes: alphabetic, numeric and underscore characters,
other nonblank characters, and blank characters. Changing
from one class to another marks the end of a word. In addi-
tion, the class of the first character erased is ignored
(which is exactly what you want when erasing pathname com-
ponents).
autoindent, ai [off]
If this option is set, whenever you create a new line (using
the vi A, a, C, c, I, i, O, o, R, r, S, and s commands, or
the ex append, change, and insert commands) the new line is
automatically indented to align the cursor with the first
nonblank character of the line from which you created it.
Lines are indented using tab characters to the extent possi-
ble (based on the value of the tabstop option) and then
using space characters as necessary. For commands inserting
text into the middle of a line, any blank characters to the
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-73
right of the cursor are discarded, and the first nonblank
character to the right of the cursor is aligned as described
above.
The indent characters are themselves somewhat special. If
you do not enter more characters on the new line before mov-
ing to another line, or entering <escape>, <escape>, the
indent character will be deleted and the line will be empty.
For example, if you enter <carriage-return> <carriage-
return> twice in succession, the line created by the first
<carriage-return> <carriage-return> will not have any char-
acters in it, regardless of the indentation of the previous
or subsequent line.
Indent characters also require that you enter additional
erase characters to delete them. For example, if you have an
indented line, containing only blanks, the first <word-
erase> <word-erase> character you enter will erase up to end
of the indent characters, and the second will erase back to
the beginning of the line. (Historically, only the
<control-D> <control-D> key would erase the indent charac-
ters. Both the <control-D> <control-D> key and the usual
erase keys work in nvi.) In addition, if the cursor is posi-
tioned at the end of the indent characters, the keys
"0<control-D>" "0<control-D>" will erase all of the indent
characters for the current line, resetting the indentation
level to 0. Similarly, the keys "^<control-D>" "^<control-
D>" will erase all of the indent characters for the current
line, leaving the indentation level for future created lines
unaffected.
Finally, if the autoindent option is set, the S and cc com-
mands change from the first nonblank of the line to the end
of the line, instead of from the beginning of the line to
the end of the line.
autoprint, ap [on]
Ex only. Cause the current line to be automatically
displayed after the ex commands <, >, copy, delete, join,
move, put, t, Undo, and undo. This automatic display is
suppressed during global and v commands, and for any command
where optional flags are used to explicitly display the
line.
autowrite, aw [off]
If this option is set, the vi !, ^^, ^] and <control-Z> com-
mands, and the ex edit, next, rewind, stop, suspend, tag,
tagpop, and tagtop commands automatically write the current
file back to the current file name if it has been modified
since it was last written. If the write fails, the command
fails and goes no further.
Appending the optional force flag character "!" "!" to the
USD:13-74 Vi/Ex Reference (Options)
ex commands next, rewind, stop, suspend, tag, tagpop, and
tagtop stops the automatic write from being attempted.
(Historically, the next command ignored the optional force
flag.) Note, the ex commands edit, quit, shell, and xit are
not affected by the autowrite option.
The autowrite option is ignored if the file is considered
read-only for any reason.
backup [""]
If this option is set, it specifies a pathname used as a
backup file, and, whenever a file is written, the file's
current contents are copied to it. The pathname is "#", "#",
"%" "%" and "!" "!" expanded.
If the first character of the pathname is "N", "N", a ver-
sion number is appended to the pathname (and the "N" "N"
character is then discarded). Version numbers are always
incremented, and each backup file will have a version number
one greater than the highest version number currently found
in the directory.
Backup files must be regular files, owned by the real user
ID of the user running the editor, and not accessible by any
other user.
beautify, bf [off]
If this option is set, all control characters that are not
currently being specially interpreted, other than <tab>,
<tab>, <newline>, <newline>, and <form-feed>, <form-feed>,
are discarded from commands read in by ex from command
files, and from input text entered to vi (either into the
file or to the colon command line). Text files read by ex/vi
are not affected by the beautify option.
cdpath [environment variable CDPATH, or current directory]
This option is used to specify a colon separated list of
directories which are used as path prefixes for any relative
path names used as arguments for the cd command. The value
of this option defaults to the value of the environment
variable CDPATH CDPATH if it is set, otherwise to the
current directory. For compatibility with the POSIX 1003.2
shell, the cd command does not check the current directory
as a path prefix for relative path names unless it is expli-
citly specified. It may be so specified by entering an empty
string or a "." "." character into the CDPATH CDPATH vari-
able or the option value.
cedit [no default]
This option adds the ability to edit the colon command-line
history. This option is set to a string. Whenever the first
character of that string is entered on the colon command
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-75
line, you will enter a normal editing window on the col-
lected commands that you've entered on the vi colon
command-line. You may then modify and/or execute the com-
mands. All normal text editing is available, except that you
cannot use <control-W> to switch to an alternate screen.
Entering a <carriage-return> will execute the current line
of the screen window as an ex command in the context of the
screen from which you created the colon command-line screen,
and you will then return to that screen.
Because of vi's parsing rules, it can be difficult to set
the colon command-line edit character to the <escape>
<escape> character. To set it to <escape>, <escape>, use
"set cedit=<literal-next><escape>". "set cedit=<literal-
next><escape>".
If the cedit edit option is set to the same character as the
filec edit option, vi will perform colon command-line edit-
ing if the character is entered as the first character of
the line, otherwise, vi will perform file name expansion.
columns, co [80]
The number of columns in the screen. Setting this option
causes ex/vi to set (or reset) the environment variable
COLUMNS. COLUMNS. See the section entitled "Sizing the
Screen" more information.
comment [off]
Vi only. If the first non-empty line of the file begins with
the string "#", "#", "/*" "/*" or "//", "//", this option
causes vi to skip to the end of that shell, C or C++ comment
(probably a terribly boring legal notice) before displaying
the file.
directory, dir [environment variable TMPDIR, or /tmp]
The directory where temporary files are created. The
environment variable TMPDIR TMPDIR is used as the default
value if it exists, otherwise /tmp /tmp is used.
edcompatible, ed [off]
Remember the values of the "c" and "g" suffixes to the sub-
stitute commands, instead of initializing them as unset for
each new command. Specifying pattern and replacement strings
to the substitute command unsets the "c" and "g" suffixes as
well.
escapetime [1]
The 10th's of a second ex/vi waits for a subsequent key to
complete an <escape> <escape> key mapping.
errorbells, eb [off]
Ex only. Ex error messages are normally presented in inverse
video. If that is not possible for the terminal, setting
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this option causes error messages to be announced by ringing
the terminal bell.
exrc, ex [off]
If this option is turned on in the EXINIT environment vari-
ables, or the system or $HOME startup files, the local
startup files are read, unless they are the same as the sys-
tem or $HOME startup files or fail to pass the standard per-
mission checks. See the section entitled "Startup Informa-
tion" for more information.
extended [off]
This option causes all regular expressions to be treated as
POSIX 1003.2 Extended Regular Expressions (which are similar
to historic egrep(1) style expressions).
filec [no default]
This option adds the ability to do shell expansion when
entering input on the colon command line. This option is set
to a string. Whenever the first character of that string is
entered on the colon command line, the <blank> delimited
string immediately before the cursor is expanded as if it
were followed by a * * character, and file name expansion
for the ex edit command was done. If no match is found, the
screen is flashed and text input resumed. If a single match
results, that match replaces the expanded text. In addition,
if the single match is for a directory, a / / character is
appended and file completion is repeated. If more than a
single match results, any unique prefix shared by the
matches replaces the expanded text, the matches are
displayed, and text input resumed.
Because of vi's parsing rules, it can be difficult to set
the path completion character to two command values,
<escape> <escape> and <tab>. <tab>. To set it to <escape>,
<escape>, use "set filec=<literal-next><escape>". "set
filec=<literal-next><escape>". To set it to <tab>, <tab>,
use "set filec=\<tab>". "set filec=\<tab>".
If the cedit edit option is set to the same character as the
filec edit option, vi will perform colon command-line edit-
ing if the character is entered as the first character of
the line, otherwise, vi will perform file name expansion.
flash [off]
This option causes the screen to flash instead of beeping
the keyboard, on error, if the terminal has the capability.
hardtabs, ht [0]
This option defines the spacing between hardware tab set-
tings, i.e. the tab expansion done by the operating system
and/or the terminal itself. As nex/nvi never writes <tab>
<tab> characters to the terminal, unlike historic versions
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-77
of ex/vi, this option does not currently have any affect.
iclower [off]
The iclower edit option makes all Regular Expressions case-
insensitive, as long as an upper-case letter does not appear
in the search string.
ignorecase, ic [off]
This option causes regular expressions, both in ex commands
and in searches, to be evaluated in a case-insensitive
manner.
keytime [6]
The 10th's of a second ex/vi waits for a subsequent key to
complete a key mapping.
leftright [off]
Vi only. This option causes the screen to be scrolled left-
right to view lines longer than the screen, instead of the
traditional vi screen interface which folds long lines at
the right-hand margin of the terminal.
lines, li [24]
Vi only. The number of lines in the screen. Setting this
option causes ex/vi to set (or reset) the environment vari-
able LINES. LINES. See the section entitled "Sizing the
Screen" for more information.
lisp [off]
Vi only. This option changes the behavior of the vi (, ), {,
}, [[ and ]] commands to match the Lisp language. Also, the
autoindent option's behavior is changed to be appropriate
for Lisp.
This option is not yet implemented.
list [off]
This option causes lines to be displayed in an unambiguous
fashion. Specifically, tabs are displayed as control charac-
ters, i.e. "^I", "^I", and the ends of lines are marked with
a "$" "$" character.
lock [on]
This option causes the editor to attempt to get an exclusive
lock on any file being edited, read or written. Reading or
writing a file that cannot be locked produces a warning mes-
sage, but no other effect. Editing a file that cannot be
locked results in a read only edit session, as if the
readonly edit option were set.
magic [on]
This option is on by default. Turning the magic option off
causes all regular expression characters except for "^" "^"
USD:13-78 Vi/Ex Reference (Options)
and "$", "$", to be treated as ordinary characters. To re-
enable characters individually, when the magic option is
off, precede them with a backslash "\" "\" character. See
the section entitled "Regular Expressions and Replacement
Strings" for more information.
matchtime [7]
Vi only. The 10th's of a second vi pauses on the matching
character when the showmatch option is set.
mesg [on]
This option allows other users to contact you using the
talk(1) and write(1) utilities, while you are editing. Ex/vi
does not turn message on, i.e. if messages were turned off
when the editor was invoked, they will stay turned off. This
option only permits you to disallow messages for the edit
session. See the mesg(1) utility for more information.
msgcat [/usr/share/vi/catalog/]
This option selects a message catalog to be used to display
error and informational messages in a specified language. If
the value of this option ends with a '/', it is treated as
the name of a directory that contains a message catalog
"vi_XXXX", "vi_XXXX", where "XXXX" "XXXX" is the value of
the LANG LANG environment variable, if it's set, or the
value of the LC_MESSAGES LC_MESSAGES environment variable if
it's not. If neither of those environment variables are set,
or if the option doesn't end in a '/', the option is treated
as the full path name of the message catalog to use.
If any messages are missing from the catalog, the backup
text (English) is used instead.
See the distribution file catalog/README catalog/README for
additional information on building and installing message
catalogs.
modelines, modeline [off]
If the modelines option is set, ex/vi has historically
scanned the first and last five lines of each file as it is
read for editing, looking for any ex commands that have been
placed in those lines. After the startup information has
been processed, and before the user starts editing the file,
any commands embedded in the file are executed.
Commands were recognized by the letters "e" or "v" followed
by "x" or "i", at the beginning of a line or following a tab
or space character, and followed by a ":", an ex command,
and another ":".
This option is a security problem of immense proportions,
and should not be used under any circumstances.
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-79
This option will never be implemented.
noprint [""]
Characters that are never handled as printable characters.
By default, the C library function isprint(3) is used to
determine if a character is printable or not. This edit
option overrides that decision.
number, nu [off]
Precede each line displayed with its current line number.
octal [off]
Display unknown characters as octal numbers ("\###"),
("\###"), instead of the default hexadecimal ("\x##").
("\x##").
open [on]
Ex only. If this option is not set, the open and visual com-
mands are disallowed.
optimize, opt [on]
Vi only. Throughput of text is expedited by setting the ter-
minal not to do automatic carriage returns when printing
more than one (logical) line of output, greatly speeding
output on terminals without addressable cursors when text
with leading whitespace is printed.
This option is not yet implemented.
paragraphs, para [IPLPPPQPP LIpplpipbp]
Vi only. Define additional paragraph boundaries for the {
and } commands. The value of this option must be a character
string consisting of zero or more character pairs.
In the text to be edited, the character string
<newline>.<char-pair>, <newline>.<char-pair>, (where <char-
pair> <char-pair> is one of the character pairs in the
option's value) defines a paragraph boundary. For example,
if the option were set to LaA<space>##, LaA<space>##, then
all of the following additional paragraph boundaries would
be recognized:
<newline>.La
<newline>.A<space>
<newline>.##
path []
The path option can be used to specify a <colon>-separated
list of paths, similar to the PATH PATH environment variable
in the shells. If this option is set, the name of the file
to be edited is not an absolute pathname, the first
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component of the filename is not "." "." or "..", "..", and
the file to be edited doesn't exist in the current direc-
tory, the elements of the path option are sequentially
searched for a file of the specified name. If such a file is
found, it is edited.
print [""]
Characters that are always handled as printable characters.
By default, the C library function isprint(3) is used to
determine if a character is printable or not. This edit
option overrides that decision.
prompt [on]
Ex only. This option causes ex to prompt for command input
with a ":" ":" character; when it is not set, no prompt is
displayed.
readonly, ro [off]
This option causes a force flag to be required to attempt to
write the file. Setting this option is equivalent to using
the -R command line option, or executing the vi program
using the name view.
The readonly edit option is not usually persistent, like
other edit options. If the -R command line option is set, vi
is executed as view, or the readonly edit option is expli-
citly set, all files edited in the screen will be marked
readonly, and the force flag will be required to write them.
However, if none of these conditions are true, or the
readonly edit option is explicitly unset, then the readonly
edit option will toggle based on the write permissions of
the file currently being edited as of when it is loaded into
the edit buffer. In other words, the readonly edit option
will be set if the current file lacks write permissions, and
will not be set if the user has write permissions for the
file.
recdir [/var/tmp/vi.recover]
The directory where recovery files are stored.
If you change the value of recdir, be careful to choose a
directory whose contents are not regularly deleted. Bad
choices include directories in memory based filesystems, or
/tmp, /tmp, on most systems, as their contents are removed
when the machine is rebooted.
Public directories like /usr/tmp /usr/tmp and /var/tmp
/var/tmp are usually safe, although some sites periodically
prune old files from them. There is no requirement that you
use a public directory, e.g. a sub-directory of your home
directory will work fine.
Finally, if you change the value of recdir, you must modify
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-81
the recovery script to operate in your chosen recovery area.
See the section entitled "Recovery" for further information.
redraw, re [off]
Vi only. The editor simulates (using great amounts of out-
put), an intelligent terminal on a dumb terminal (e.g. dur-
ing insertions in vi the characters to the right of the cur-
sor are refreshed as each input character is typed).
This option is not yet implemented.
remap [on]
If this option is set, it is possible to define macros in
terms of other macros. Otherwise, each key is only remapped
up to one time. For example, if "A" "A" is mapped to "B",
"B", and "B" "B" is mapped to "C", "C", The keystroke "A"
"A" will be mapped to "C" "C" if the remap option is set,
and to "B" "B" if it is not set.
report [5]
Set the threshold of the number of lines that need to be
changed or yanked before a message will be displayed to the
user. For everything but the yank command, the value is the
largest value about which the editor is silent, i.e. by
default, 6 lines must be deleted before the user is noti-
fied. However, if the number of lines yanked is greater than
or equal to the set value, it is reported to the user.
ruler [off]
Vi only. Display a row/column ruler on the colon command
line.
scroll, scr [(environment variable LINES - 1) / 2]
Set the number of lines scrolled by the ex <control-D> and
<end-of-file> commands.
Historically, the ex z command, when specified without a
count, used two times the size of the scroll value; the
POSIX 1003.2 standard specified the window size, which is a
better choice.
searchincr [off]
The searchincr edit option makes the search commands / and ?
incremental, i.e. the screen is updated and the cursor moves
to the matching text as the search pattern is entered. If
the search pattern is not found, the screen is beeped and
the cursor remains on the colon-command line. Erasing char-
acters from the search pattern backs the cursor up to the
previous matching text.
sections, sect [NHSHH HUnhsh]
Vi only. Define additional section boundaries for the [[ and
USD:13-82 Vi/Ex Reference (Options)
]] commands. The sections option should be set to a charac-
ter string consisting of zero or more character pairs. In
the text to be edited, the character string
<newline>.<char-pair>, <newline>.<char-pair>, (where <char-
pair> <char-pair> is one of the character pairs in the
option's value), defines a section boundary in the same
manner that paragraphs option boundaries are defined.
secure [off]
The secure edit option turns off all access to external pro-
grams. This means that the versions of the read and write
commands that filter text through other programs, the vi !
and <control-Z> commands, the ex !, script, shell, stop and
suspend commands and file name expansion will not be permit-
ted. Once set, the secure edit option may not be unset.
shell, sh [environment variable SHELL, or /bin/sh]
Select the shell used by the editor. The specified path is
the pathname of the shell invoked by the vi ! shell escape
command and by the ex shell command. This program is also
used to resolve any shell meta-characters in ex commands.
shellmeta [~{[*?$`'"\]
The set of characters that ex checks for when doing file
name expansion. If any of the specified characters are found
in the file name arguments to the ex commands, the arguments
are expanded using the program defined by the shell option.
The default set of characters is a union of meta characters
from the Version 7 and the Berkeley C shell.
shiftwidth, sw [8]
Set the autoindent and shift command indentation width. This
width is used by the autoindent option and by the <, >, and
shift commands.
showmatch, sm [off]
Vi only. This option causes vi, when a "}" "}" or ")" ")" is
entered, to briefly move the cursor the matching "{" "{" or
"(". "(". See the matchtime option for more information.
showmode, smd [off]
Vi only. This option causes vi to display a string identify-
ing the current editor mode on the colon command line. The
string is preceded by an asterisk (``*'') if the file has
been modified since it was last completely written,
sidescroll [16]
Vi only. Sets the number of columns that are shifted to the
left or right, when vi is doing left-right scrolling and the
left or right margin is crossed. See the leftright option
for more information.
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-83
slowopen, slow [off]
This option affects the display algorithm used by vi, hold-
ing off display updating during input of new text to improve
throughput when the terminal in use is slow and unintelli-
gent.
This option is not yet implemented.
sourceany [off]
If this option is turned on, vi historically read startup
files that were owned by someone other than the editor user.
See the section entitled "Startup Information" for more
information. This option is a security problem of immense
proportions, and should not be used under any circumstances.
This option will never be implemented.
tabstop, ts [8]
This option sets tab widths for the editor display.
taglength, tl [0]
This option sets the maximum number of characters that are
considered significant in a tag name. Setting the value to 0
makes all of the characters in the tag name significant.
tags, tag [tags]
Sets the list of tags files, in search order, which are used
when the editor searches for a tag.
term, ttytype, tty [environment variable TERM]
Set the terminal type. Setting this option causes ex/vi to
set (or reset) the environment variable TERM. TERM.
terse [off]
This option has historically made editor messages less ver-
bose. It has no effect in this implementation. See the ver-
bose option for more information.
tildeop [off]
Modify the ~ command to take an associated motion.
timeout, to [on]
If this option is set, ex/vi waits for a specific period for
a subsequent key to complete a key mapping (see the keytime
option). If the option is not set, the editor waits until
enough keys are entered to resolve the ambiguity, regardless
of how long it takes.
ttywerase [off]
Vi only. This option changes how vi does word erase during
text input. If this option is set, text is broken up into
two classes, blank characters and nonblank characters.
Changing from one class to another marks the end of a word.
USD:13-84 Vi/Ex Reference (Options)
verbose [off]
Vi only. Vi historically bells the terminal for many obvious
mistakes, e.g. trying to move past the left-hand margin, or
past the end of the file. If this option is set, an error
message is displayed for all errors.
w300 [no default]
Vi only. Set the window size if the baud rate is less than
1200 baud. See the window option for more information.
w1200 [no default]
Vi only. Set the window size if the baud rate is equal to
1200 baud. See the window option for more information.
w9600 [no default]
Vi only. Set the window size if the baud rate is greater
than 1200 baud. See the window option for more information.
warn [on]
Ex only. This option causes a warning message to the termi-
nal if the file has been modified, since it was last writ-
ten, before a ! command.
window, w, wi [environment variable LINES - 1]
This option determines the default number of lines in a
screenful, as displayed by the z command. It also determines
the number of lines scrolled by the vi commands <control-B>
and <control-F>, and the default number of lines scrolled by
the vi commands <control-D> and <control-U>. The value of
window can be unrelated to the real screen size, although it
starts out as the number of lines on the screen. See the
section entitled "Sizing the Screen" for more information.
Setting the value of the window option is the same as using
the -w command line option.
If the value of the window option (as set by the window,
w300, w1200 or w9600 options) is smaller than the actual
size of the screen, large screen movements will result in
displaying only that smaller number of lines on the screen.
(Further movements in that same area will result in the
screen being filled.) This can provide a performance
improvement when viewing different places in one or more
files over a slow link.
Resetting the window size does not reset the default number
of lines scrolled by the <control-D> and <control-U> com-
mands.
windowname [off]
Vi changes the name of the editor's icon/window to the
current file name when it's possible and not destructive,
i.e., when the editor can restore it to its original value
on exit or when the icon/window will be discarded as the
Vi/Ex Reference (Options) USD:13-85
editor exits. If the windowname edit option is set, vi will
change the icon/window name even when it's destructive and
the icon/window name will remain after the editor exits.
(This is the case for xterm(1)).
wraplen, wl [0]
This option is identical to the wrapmargin option, with the
exception that it specifies the number of columns from the
left margin before the line splits, not the right margin.
If both wraplen and wrapmargin are set, the wrapmargin value
is used.
wrapmargin, wm [0]
Vi only. If the value of the wrapmargin option is non-zero,
vi will split lines so that they end at least that number of
columns before the right-hand margin of the screen. (Note,
the value of wrapmargin is not a text length. In a screen
that is 80 columns wide, the command ":set wrapmargin=8"
":set wrapmargin=8" attempts to keep the lines less than or
equal to 72 columns wide.)
Lines are split at the previous whitespace character closest
to the number. Any trailing whitespace characters before
that character are deleted. If the line is split because of
an inserted <space> <space> or <tab> <tab> character, and
you then enter another <space> <space> character, it is dis-
carded.
If wrapmargin is set to 0, or if there is no blank character
upon which to split the line, the line is not broken.
If both wraplen and wrapmargin are set, the wrapmargin value
is used.
wrapscan, ws [on]
This option causes searches to wrap around the end or the
beginning of the file, and back to the starting point. Oth-
erwise, the end or beginning of the file terminates the
search.
writeany, wa [off]
If this option is set, file-overwriting checks that would
usually be made before the write and xit commands, or before
an automatic write (see the autowrite option), are not made.
This allows a write to any file, provided the file permis-
sions allow it.
USD:13-86 Vi/Ex Reference
19. Index
Vi/Ex Reference USD:13-3
Table of Contents
Description ................................................ 4
Additional Features in Nex/Nvi ............................. 4
Startup Information ........................................ 6
Recovery ................................................... 7
Sizing the Screen .......................................... 8
Character Display .......................................... 9
Multiple Screens ........................................... 9
Tags, Tag Stacks, and Cscope ............................... 10
Regular Expressions and Replacement Strings ................ 12
Scripting Languages ........................................ 14
General Editor Description ................................. 15
Vi Description ............................................. 19
Vi Commands ................................................ 22
Vi Text Input Commands ..................................... 48
Ex Addressing .............................................. 50
Ex Description ............................................. 52
Ex Commands ................................................ 54
Set Options ................................................ 72
Index ...................................................... 86
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