Basic vi Commands

BASIC MOVEMENT/DELETE COMMANDS
Command	Item	Forward	Backward	Repeat (1)
move	character	$\rightarrow$	$\leftarrow$	n
delete		x	X	y
move	word start (2)	w	b	n
	word end	e		n
delete	word	dw	db	y
move	line	$	0	n
delete		d$	d0	y
move	file	G	1G	n
delete		dG	d1G	y
move	paragraph	}	{	n
delete		d}	d{	y
Absolute/Relative Direction
Command	Item	OpCode	Action	Repeat (1)
go to	line	:line_no	absolute line no.	n
delete	range	:n1,n2d	absolute line range n1<n2	n
		:.,+nd	relative line range form here to n	n
go to	lines	$:.\pm n$	move +n or -n lines from here	n
delete	lines	$:.\pm n$d	delete one line at +n or -n lines from here	n
Using Markers
Command	Item	OpCode	Action	Repeat (1)
go to	marker	`a (3)	move from here to marker a	n
		'a (4)	move from here to line marked a	n
delete	marker range	d`a (3)	delete from here to marker a	n
		d'a (4)	delete from here to line marked a	n
(1) - repeat character is . (dot)
(2) - use uppercase codes W, E, B for whole words
(3) - use backquote to select marked position
(4) - use quote to select marked line

BASIC SEARCH OPERATORS
Item	Forward	Backward	Action	Repeat Count
string	/	?	search string in file (1)	n
.*	/	?	use wild match search	n
character	f	F	search char in line (2)	y
Repeat Search Operators
Item	Operator		Action	Repeat Count
string	n		same direction of previous search	n
	N		opposite direction of previous search	n
character	;		same direction of previous search	y
	,		opposite direction of previous search	y
Setup Search Modifiers
setup	Action
:se nows	inhibit circular search and stop when EOF or BOF met
:se ic	ignore case of searched string, always match case of searched char
(1) - search strings are regular expressions
(2) - integer repeat count is prefixed to search operator
n.b. - search operator is prefixed to search item

BASIC SUBSTITUTE COMMANDS
Command	Action	Repeat count
r	overstrike one single character	y
R	overstrike chars up to <esc>	y
cc	replace line up to <esc>	y
cw	replace word forward up to <esc>	y
cb	replace word backward up to <esc>	y
s	substitute char up to <esc>	y
:s/old/new/gc	replace all occurence of regular expression old
	with string new in current line with confirm	n
:50,100 s/old/new/gc	as above on line range	n
:s	unconditionally repeat previous string replace	n
:sc	repeat previous string replace with confirm	n
n.b. - use :se noic to force case match
n.b. - use :se nu to display line numbers

BASIC RESTORE/UNDO COMMANDS
Command	Action
:e!	reread file and erase all changes
u	undo last change
U	restore current line
xp	exchange characters
"1p	restore buffer 1 after (1)
"1P	restore buffer 1 before
"2p	restore buffer 1 after
"2P	restore buffer 1 before
(1) - buffer range is 1:9, repeat operator (dot) on restore buffer 1
restores delete lines in reverse order

BASIC GENERAL COMMANDS
Command	Action
Q	switch from vi to ex
vi	switch from ex to vi
^L	refresh screen
:#	print current line with line no.
:.=	print line no. of current line
:=	print line no. of last line in current file
:se nu	set line no.
:se noic	set case match
:se all	list all editor parameters
:se param?	list current value of parameter
/^L	move over <FF>, the eve section delimiter
	to insert ^F type <ctrl>L