Master vi/vim editor for Creating and editing text files from the command line in deatail
Objectives
Create and edit text files from the command line with the vim editor. vi and vim / VISUAL EDITOR
Edit Files with Vim
The fundamental design principle of Linux is that it supports storage of the information and configuration settings in text-based files. These files follow various structures such as lists of settings, INI-like formats, structured XML or YAML, and others. The advantage of storing files in a text-based structure is that they are edited with any text editor.
Vim is an improved version of the vi editor, which is distributed with Linux and UNIX systems. Vim is a highly configurable and efficient editor that provides split-screen editing, color formatting, and highlighting for editing text.
Benefits of the Vim Editor
When a system uses a text-only shell prompt, you should know how to use at least one text editor for editing files. You can then edit text-based configuration files from a terminal window or remote logins through the ssh command or the Web Console. You also do not need access to a graphical desktop to edit files on a server, and that server might not need to run a graphical desktop environment.
The key reason to learn Vim is that it is almost always installed by default on a server for editing text-based files. The Portable Operating System Interface or POSIX standard specified the vi editor on Linux, and many other UNIX-like operating systems largely do likewise.
Vim is also used often as the vi implementation on other standard operating systems or distributions. For example, macOS currently includes a lightweight installation of Vim by default. So, Vim skills that are learned for Linux might also prove useful elsewhere.
Get Started with Vim
#vim filename
#vi filename
VIM support three/four operating mode-
1. Normal / Command line mode
2. Extended Command line mode
3. Visual line /Visual Block mode
4. Edit /Insert MOde
Advance mode
/etc/vimrc
~/.vimrc
1. Normal / Command line mode-
Available commands-
press ecs escape key to make sure you are in command MODE
press
i - for going into insert mode
yy- for copy copmlete line
p- paste the copied data
5p - paste copied data 5 times
45-
3p-
dd- delete a line
x- for deleting a charcter of cursor
dw- deleting a word on which cursor is present
u- for undo the last changes
cw- changing the current currsor word
d$- for deleting the line from current cursor postion to end of line
o/O - for opeing a new line and going into the insert mode
A/a= for going inti the append mode
: for going into the Extended command mode
shift+v - for going into the visual mode
2. Extended Command line mode-
ecs /escape to make sure you are in normal mode
: - to go into the extended command mode
:write/w - writing
:w /anylocationofnew file
:wq It will write and quit / save and exit
:q just quit without saving any thing
:q! Quite by discarding all changes
:set nu - for setting number before line
:set all -- explore all supported set command
Edit mode-
ctrl+shift+c for copying selected data
ctrl+shift+v for pasting the copied data