This section is a quick reference of many common vi commands. Some of these were discussed earlier in the chapter, while many will be new.
Table 15-1. Movement
| Operation | Key |
|---|---|
| left, down, up, right | h, j, k, l |
| To the end of the line | $ |
| To the beginning of the line | ^ |
| To the end of the file | G |
| To the beginning of the file | :1 |
| To line 47 | :47 |
Table 15-2. Editing
| Operation | Key |
|---|---|
| Removing a line | dd |
| Removing five lines | 5dd |
| Replacing a character | r |
| Removing a character | x |
| Removing ten characters | 10x |
| Undo last action | u |
| Join current and next lines | J |
Table 15-3. Searching
| Operation | Key |
|---|---|
| Search for “asdf” | /asdf |
| Search backwards for “asdf” | ?asdf |
| Repeat last search forwards | / |
| Repeat last search backwards | ? |
Table 15-4. Saving and Quitting
| Operation | Key |
|---|---|
| Quit | :q |
| Quit without saving | :q! |
| Write and quit | :wq |
| Write, without quitting | :w |
| Reload currently open file | :e! |
| Write buffer to file asdf | :w asdf |
| Open file hejaz | :e hejaz |
| Read file asdf into buffer | :r asdf |
| Read output of ls into buffer | :r !ls |