Vim

More Navigation

• Within current line
  • 0, ^, $ - move to beginning of line , first nonblank character, end of line
  • w , b - move forward / backward one word
  • fchar / Fchar - move forward / backward to first occurrence of char (cursor lands on char)
    • e.g., f; moves the cursor onto the next semicolon on the line
  • tchar / Tchar - move forward / backward until first occurrence of char (cursor lands on character before char)
    • e.g., fs moves the cursor onto the characetr immediately before the next 's' on the line
• Larger movements
  • nG (or :n) - move to line n
  • G (or :$) - move to last line in file
  • Ctrl-F, Ctrl-B - jump forward / backward one screen
  • H, M L - move to top (High), Middle, bottom (Low) of screen

Basic Actions

• d - delete
• y - yank (copy)

Count

• specifying an integer in front of a navigation or editing command in normal mode performs the operation that number of times
  • 3j - move down 3 lines
  • 2fm - move cursor onto the second m after the current position on the line (move cursor forward 2 'm's)

Basic Searching

• /string<Enter>- find first forward occurrence of string
• ?string<Enter> - find first backward occurrence of string
• /<Enter> (or n) - find next occurrence of most recent search
• ?<Enter> (or n) - find next occurrence of most recent search
• You can use the up/down arrow keys after / or ? to move through your recent searcj strings

The Basic Structure of a Normal Mode Operation

	Count Action Subject

• Omitting Count - operation is performed once
• Omitting Action - movement only
• A few Actions take no Subject (x for example)
• Otherwise, Action is performed on the Subject Count times
• Examples:
  • w - move to next word; no Action, Count is 1
  • 10j - move down 10 lines; no Action, Count is 10
  • dt) - delete all characters until (but not including) the next )
• doubling the letter of an action (e.g., dd, yy usually makes it operate on the entire line).
  • dd deletes the current line
  • yy yanks (copies) the current line

Some Command Mode Actions

• Again, : gets you into command mode
• Many of the commands in command mode work on multiple lines; you indicate which lines by specifying a line range upon which the command should operate.
• There are command to cut/copy/paste and substitute (replace)
• There are several commands to cut/copy/paste

Line Ranges

• . - current line (line cursor is on)
• $ - last line of the file
• .+7 - seven lines from the current line
• $-1 - next to last line in file

Visual Modes

• Allows you to see range being worked on
• Three modes:
  • v — character mode; selects characters
  • Shift-V — line mode; selects full lines
  • Ctl-V — block mode; selects blocks (columns) of characters

The General Form of These Commands

• <line-range> <action> other arguments

Actions

• cutting/deleting - d
  • :10,15d - deletes lines 10-15
  • :1,$d - deletes from first to last line
• copying - y
  • :13,23y - yank (make a copy of) lines 13 through 23
  • :.,.+3y - yank 4 lines beginning at the current line
• moving (cut/paste) - m
  • :13,23m27 - move lines 13 through 23 to line 27
  • :.,.+3m$ - move the 4 lines beginning at the cursor to the end of the file
• transferring (copy/paste) - t
  • :13,23t27 - copy lines 13 through 23 to line 27
  • :.,.+3mt - copy the 4 lines beginning at the cursor to the end of the file
• Note the difference between y which simply holds onto a copy of the specified range and t which makes a copy and places it at the destination line. Similarly d merely deletes the specified range (holding on to it so it can be p'd later), while m places it at the destination line.
• In summary:
  • d is a simple cut
  • y is a simple copy
  • p is a simple paste
  • t is a copy/paste in a single command
  • m is a cut/paste in a single command