Using the vi editor
David Young
Cytoclonal Pharmaceutics Inc.
vi is an ASCII text editor. It is certainly not the easiest
text editor to use ever createad. However it has a very powerful set
of shortcuts for automating tasks. vi is a Unix command, so it is the only
text editor that you can be assured will be on any Unix machine you ever
use, including Linux.
vi is completely text based. It does make use of many aspects
of screen display available through telnet, so determining whether vi works
correctly is a good check on whether your terminal setting are correct.
vi uses the keyboard only (no mouse). It has a command mode in which the
keys typed correspond to commands for moving the cursor, cut, paste, etc.
and an insert mode where the keys typed are put into the document text.
There is enough good vi information on the web, that I saw
no reason to write up my own directions. Below are some useful sources on
the web describing the vi editor.
Information for beginners
vi Basics
vi Editor: Tutorial
Mastering the vi editor
Online vi Help for Beginners
vi docs
The vi/ex Editor
A Beginners guide to vi and ex
More comprehensive sources
vi Helpfile
vi Reference
vi Lovers Home Page
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