Vi

Links

See Vimrc for configuration settings to store in the file ~/.vimrc.

General

• My links on vi on del.icio.us.
• Official vim homepage.

Fun

• Vi would not be vi without a bit of fun...

Guides & Cheat sheets

• Very good post explaining why vi is superior and defeating common misconception (with examples) [1].
• Very good graphical cheatsheet
  • Direct links: overview and per-lesson.
• Avoiding the ESC key [2]
• Vim map tutorial [3]

Manual & Doc

• Vim documentation: help
• Vim documentation: map

Invocation

vi -p file1.txt file2.txt                  # Open each file in a different tab
view file.txt                              # View file in vim, with syntax highlighting... (read-only)
vimdiff file1.txt file2.txt                # View differences in vim

Keyboard Shortcuts

Help

Shortcut	Description	Custom
Ctrl+] <LeftMouse>	Jump to a subject. On azerty keyboard, do Ctrl-AltGr-] (but doesn't with Synergy). The mouse shortcut requires :set mouse=a
Ctrl+O Ctrl-T g<RightMouse> <C-RightMouse>	Back.

Splitting windows

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:{height}split [filename]	Split the screen into two windows, optionally opening another file (with the optional specified height)
:new	Open a new window on a new empty file
:close	Close the current windows
:only	Close all other windows
Ctrl-W w	Switch between windows
Ctrl-W + Ctrl-W -	Increase / decrease window height
{height}Ctrl-W _	Set window height, or maximize it if no height specified
:qa[ll] :wa[ll]	Quit all windows / Write change for all windows

Tabs

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:tab {command}	Execute the command in a new tab
:tabonly	Close all tabs but the current one
:tabn[ext] C-PageDown gt	Go to the next tab page
:tabp[ext] C-PageUp gT	Go to the previous tab page

Miscellaneous

! If keys HJKLM have been remapped to MHJKL, shortcut below must be changed accordingly !

Shortcut	Description	Custom
Ctrl+[	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type. Works on AZERTY keyboard in Windows, but not on Linux.
Ctrl+c	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type. Also works on AZERTY keyboard
Ctrl+Space	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type (see [4]).	Yes
Ctrl+L	Omni and keyword completion.	Yes
*	Search next occurence of word under cursor (Here more like this...)
#	Search previous occurence of word under cursor
gd	Search first occurence of current search
^d<BS>	Concatenate current line at the end of previous lines (assuming <BS> does wrap-around. See option whichwrap)
J	Concatenate current line with next line
/ ↑	Recall previous search string
: ↑	Recall previous command
.	Redo last command
Ctrl + o	to execute more commands (see [5])

Block Indenting

(ref: [6])

Shortcut	Description	Custom
>>	Indent current line
5>>	Indent 5 lines
Vjjjj>>	Indent 5 lines - same as above but using visual mode
>%	(while cursor is on a curly brace) Indent a curly-braces block
]p	paste & indent block based on surrounding text
={	(C-indenting) Auto-indent the current block (:help = for more info)
==	(C-indenting) Auto-indent the current line
gg=G	Intends everything!

Operator & motion

List of available operators:

c       change
d       delete
y       yank into register (does not change the text)
~       swap case (only if 'tildeop' is set)
g~      swap case
gu      make lowercase
gU      make uppercase
!       filter through an external program
=       filter through 'equalprg' or C-indenting if empty
gq      text formatting
g?      ROT13 encoding
>       shift right
<       shift left
zf      define a fold
g@      call function set with the 'operatorfunc' option

List of frequently used operator motion (see :help operator). They are used like diB (delete inner {} block)

iw	inner word	aw	a word	i[	inner [] block	a[	a [] block	i"	inner "" string	a"	a "" string
iW	inner WORD	aW	a WORD	ib i(	inner () block	ab a(	a () block	i'	inner '' string	a'	a '' string
is	inner sentence	as	a sentence	i<	inner <> block	a<	a <> block	i`	inner `` string	a`	a `` string
ip	inner paragraph	ap	a paragraph	it	inner tag block	at	a tag block
				iB i{	inner {} block	aB a{	a {} block

Commands

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:s/search/replace/	Search & replace - current line
:%s/search/replace/	Search & replace - global scope

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

• Inserting only a single character (http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Insert_a_single_character).
• Macro
  • qq to start recording a macro q. End macro with q again.
  • @q to replay macro, followed by . to replay it again.
• Visual Block
  • Ctrl-v to start VISUAL BLOCK mode.
  • Shift-I to insert some text at the start of each line of selected block.
• wrap-around
  • Set option whichwrap or ww that allows specified keys that move the cursor left/right to move to the previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in the line.
  • In Vim, <space> and <backspace> are set to wrap-around by default.
• Read-only viewer (with syntax highlighting):

$ vi -R sensitive_file
$ view sensitive_file

• Retab

To convert tabs in current file to current tab settings, use command :retab [7]. For instance to convert tabs into space

:set expandtab
:retab

• View differences in vim

vimdiff file1.txt file2.txt

To Do

• Done Find a way to prevent vim to mess up with my register when deleting text.
• Auto-complete, use cursor keys instead of up/down to search in the drop down list.