General Startup

To use vi:	vi filename
To exit & save changes:	ZZ or :wq
To exit without saving changes:	:q!
To save the current file without quitting:	:w
To copy (read) filename after cursor in file currently editing:	:r filename
To enter vi command mode:	[esc]

Line Editor Mode

Any commands form the line editor can be issued upon entering line mode.

To enter:	type ':'
To exit:	press [return] or [esc]

Screen Movement

G	move to the last line in the file
xG	move to line x
z+	move current line to top of screen
z	move current line to the middle of screen
z-	move current line to the bottom of screen
^F	move forward one screen
^B	move backward one line
^D	move forward one half screen
^U	move backward one half screen
^R	redraw screen ( does not work with VT100 type terminals )
^L	redraw screen ( does not work with Televideo terminals )

Shell Escape

executes 'cmd' as a shell command:
:!cmd

Copying Code

yy	(yank)'copies' line which may then be put by the p(put) command. Precede with a count for multiple lines.

Find Commands

?	finds a word going backwards
/	finds a word going forwards
f	finds a character on the line under the cursor going forward
F	finds a character on the line under the cursor going backwards
t	find a character on the current line going forward and stop one character before it
T	find a character on the current line going backward and stop one character before it
;	repeat last f, F, t, T

:%s/regex/repl/flags replace

Moving

:#	move to line #
:$	move to last line of file

Miscellaneous Commands

.	repeat last command
u	undoes last command issued
U	undoes all commands on one line
xp	deletes first character and inserts after second (swap)
J	join current line with the next line
^G	display current line number
%	if at one parenthesis, will jump to its mate
mx	mark current line with character x
'x	find line marked with character x

NOTE

: Marks are internal and not written to the file.

Put Command

brings back previous deletion or yank of lines, words, or characters

P	bring back before cursor
p	bring back after cursor

Cursor Movement

h	move left (backspace)
j	move down
k	move up
l	move right (spacebar)
[return]	move to the beginning of the next line
$	last column on the current line
0	move cursor to the first column on the current line
^	move cursor to first nonblank column on the current line
w	move to the beginning of the next word or punctuation mark
W	move past the next space
b	move to the beginning of the previous word or punctuation mark
B	move to the beginning of the previous word, ignores punctuation
e	end of next word or punctuation mark
E	end of next word, ignoring punctuation
H	move cursor to the top of the screen
M	move cursor to the middle of the screen
L	move cursor to the bottom of the screen

Inserting

r	replace character under cursor with next character typed
R	keep replacing character until [esc] is hit
i	insert before cursor
a	append after cursor
A	append at end of line
O	open line above cursor and enter append mode

Deleting

x	delete character under cursor
dd	delete line under cursor
dw	delete word under cursor
db	delete word before cursor

Counts

A number preceding any vi command tells vi to repeat that command many times.