nvi man page on BSDi

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6284 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
BSDi logo
[printable version]



VI(1)							    VI(1)

NAME
       ex, vi, view - text editors

SYNOPSIS
       ex [-eFRrSsv] [-c cmd] [-t tag] [-w size] [file ...]
       vi [-eFlRrSv] [-c cmd] [-t tag] [-w size] [file ...]
       view [-eFRrSv] [-c cmd] [-t tag] [-w size] [file ...]

LICENSE
       The vi program is freely redistributable.  You are welcome
       to copy, modify and share it with others under the  condi-
       tions  listed  in  the  LICENSE file.  If any company (not
       individual!) finds vi sufficiently useful that  you  would
       have  purchased	it,  or	 if  any company wishes to redis-
       tribute it, contributions to the authors would be appreci-
       ated.

DESCRIPTION
       Vi  is  a  screen oriented text editor.	Ex is a line-ori-
       ented text editor.  Ex and vi are different interfaces  to
       the  same  program,  and it is possible to switch back and
       forth during an edit session.  View is the  equivalent  of
       using the -R (read-only) option of vi.

       This manual page is the one provided with the nex/nvi ver-
       sions of the ex/vi text editors.	 Nex/nvi are intended  as
       bug-for-bug   compatible	 replacements  for  the	 original
       Fourth Berkeley Software Distribution  (4BSD)  ex  and  vi
       programs.   For	the  rest of this manual page, nex/nvi is
       used only when it's necessary to distinguish it	from  the
       historic implementations of ex/vi.

       This  manual  page  is intended for users already familiar
       with ex/vi.  Anyone else should almost  certainly  read	a
       good  tutorial  on the editor before this manual page.  If
       you're in an unfamiliar environment,  and  you  absolutely
       have  to get work done immediately, read the section after
       the options description, entitled ``Fast Startup''.   It's
       probably enough to get you going.

       The following options are available:

       -c     Execute  cmd  immediately	 after	starting the edit
	      session.	Particularly useful for initial position-
	      ing  in  the  file,  however  cmd is not limited to
	      positioning commands.  This  is  the  POSIX  1003.2
	      interface	  for	the   historic	``+cmd''  syntax.
	      Nex/nvi supports both the old and new syntax.

       -e     Start editing in ex mode, as if  the  command  name
	      were ex.

       -F     Don't  copy  the entire file when first starting to
	      edit.  (The default is  to  make	a  copy	 in  case

			 October 10, 1996			1

VI(1)							    VI(1)

	      someone  else  modifies  the  file during your edit
	      session.)

       -l     Start editing with the lisp and  showmatch  options
	      set.

       -R     Start  editing in read-only mode, as if the command
	      name was view, or the readonly option was set.

       -r     Recover the specified files, or, if  no  files  are
	      specified,  list the files that could be recovered.
	      If no  recoverable  files	 by  the  specified  name
	      exist,  the  file is edited as if the -r option had
	      not been specified.

       -S     Run with the secure edit	option	set,  disallowing
	      all access to external programs.

       -s     Enter  batch  mode; applicable only to ex edit ses-
	      sions.   Batch  mode  is	useful	when  running  ex
	      scripts.	 Prompts,  informative messages and other
	      user  oriented  message  are  turned  off,  and  no
	      startup  files or environmental variables are read.
	      This is the POSIX 1003.2 interface for the historic
	      ``-''  argument.	Nex/nvi supports both the old and
	      new syntax.

       -t     Start  editing  at   the	 specified   tag.    (See
	      ctags(1)).

       -w     Set the initial window size to the specified number
	      of lines.

       -v     Start editing in vi mode, as if  the  command  name
	      was vi or view.

       Command	input  for ex/vi is read from the standard input.
       In the vi interface, it is an error if standard	input  is
       not a terminal.	In the ex interface, if standard input is
       not a terminal, ex will read commands from it  regardless,
       however, the session will be a batch mode session, exactly
       as if the -s option had been specified.

       Ex/vi exits 0 on success, and greater than 0 if	an  error
       occurs.

FAST STARTUP
       This  section  will  tell  you the minimum amount that you
       need to do simple editing tasks using vi.  If you've never
       used any screen editor before, you're likely to have prob-
       lems even with this simple introduction.	 In that case you
       should  find  someone  that already knows vi and have them
       walk you through this section.

			 October 10, 1996			2

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       Vi is a screen editor.  This means that it takes up almost
       the  entire  screen,  displaying	 part of the file on each
       screen line, except for the last line of the screen.   The
       last  line  of the screen is used for you to give commands
       to vi, and for vi to give information to you.

       The other fact that you need to understand is that vi is a
       modeful	editor,	 i.e. you are either entering text or you
       are executing commands, and you have to be  in  the  right
       mode  to do one or the other.  You will be in command mode
       when you first start editing a file.  There  are	 commands
       that  switch  you  into input mode.  There is only one key
       that takes you out of input mode, and that is the <escape>
       key.   (Key names are written using less-than and greater-
       than signs, e.g.	 <escape> means the ``escape'' key,  usu-
       ally  labeled  ``esc''  on  your terminal's keyboard.)  If
       you're ever confused as to  which  mode	you're	in,  keep
       entering	 the <escape> key until vi beeps at you.  (Gener-
       ally, vi will beep at you if  you  try  and  do	something
       that's not allowed.  It will also display error messages.)

       To  start  editing  a  file,  enter   the   command   ``vi
       file_name<carriage-return>''.	The  command  you  should
       enter as soon as you start editing is ``:set verbose show-
       mode<carriage-return>''.	  This	will make the editor give
       you verbose error messages and display the current mode at
       the bottom of the screen.

       The commands to move around the file are:

       h      Move the cursor left one character.

       j      Move the cursor down one line.

       k      Move the cursor up one line.

       l      Move the cursor right one character.

       <cursor-arrows>
	      The cursor arrow keys should work, too.

       /text<carriage-return>
	      Search  for  the	string	``text'' in the file, and
	      move the cursor to its first character.

       The commands to enter new text are:

       a      Append new text, after the cursor.

       i      Insert new text, before the cursor.

       o      Open a new line below the line the  cursor  is  on,
	      and start entering text.

			 October 10, 1996			3

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       O      Open  a  new  line above the line the cursor is on,
	      and start entering text.

       <escape>
	      Once you've entered input mode using the one of the
	      a,  i, O or o commands, use <escape> to quit enter-
	      ing text and return to command mode.

       The commands to copy text are:

       yy     Copy the line the cursor is on.

       p      Append the copied line after the line the cursor is
	      on.

       The commands to delete text are:

       dd     Delete the line the cursor is on.

       x      Delete the character the cursor is on.

       The commands to write the file are:

       :w<carriage-return>
	      Write  the file back to the file with the name that
	      you originally used as an argument on the	 vi  com-
	      mand line.

       :w file_name<carriage-return>
	      Write  the  file	back  to  the  file with the name
	      ``file_name''.

       The commands to quit editing and exit the editor are:

       :q<carriage-return>
	      Quit editing and leave vi (if you've  modified  the
	      file, but not saved your changes, vi will refuse to
	      quit).

       :q!<carriage-return>
	      Quit, discarding any  modifications  that	 you  may
	      have made.

       One  final  caution.   Unusual characters can take up more
       than one column on the screen, and long lines can take  up
       more  than  a single screen line.  The above commands work
       on ``physical'' characters and lines, i.e. they affect the
       entire  line  no	 matter how many screen lines it takes up
       and the entire character no matter how many screen columns
       it takes up.

VI COMMANDS
       The  following section describes the commands available in
       the command mode of the vi editor.  In each  entry  below,

			 October 10, 1996			4

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       the  tag	 line is a usage synopsis for the command charac-
       ter.

       [count] <control-A>
	      Search forward count times for the current word.

       [count] <control-B>
	      Page backwards count screens.

       [count] <control-D>
	      Scroll forward count lines.

       [count] <control-E>
	      Scroll forward count  lines,  leaving  the  current
	      line and column as is, if possible.

       [count] <control-F>
	      Page forward count screens.

       <control-G>
	      Display the file information.

       <control-H>

       [count] h
	      Move  the	 cursor back count characters in the cur-
	      rent line.

       [count] <control-J>

       [count] <control-N>

       [count] j
	      Move the cursor down count lines	without	 changing
	      the current column.

       <control-L>

       <control-R>
	      Repaint the screen.

       [count] <control-M>

       [count] +
	      Move  the cursor down count lines to the first non-
	      blank character of that line.

       [count] <control-P>

       [count] k
	      Move the cursor up count	lines,	without	 changing
	      the current column.

			 October 10, 1996			5

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       <control-T>
	      Return to the most recent tag context.

       <control-U>
	      Scroll backwards count lines.

       <control-W>
	      Switch  to the next lower screen in the window, or,
	      to the first screen if there are no  lower  screens
	      in the window.

       <control-Y>
	      Scroll  backwards	 count lines, leaving the current
	      line and column as is, if possible.

       <control-Z>
	      Suspend the current editor session.

       <escape>
	      Execute ex commands or cancel partial commands.

       <control-]>
	      Push a tag reference onto the tag stack.

       <control-^>
	      Switch to the most recently edited file.

       [count] <space>

       [count] l
	      Move the cursor forward  count  characters  without
	      changing the current line.

       [count] ! motion shell-argument(s)
	      Replace text with results from a shell command.

       [count] # #|+|-
	      Increment or decrement the cursor number.

       [count] $
	      Move the cursor to the end of a line.

       %      Move to the matching character.

       &      Repeat  the  previous  substitution  command on the
	      current line.

       '<character>

       `<character>
	      Return to a context marked by the character  <char-
	      acter>.

			 October 10, 1996			6

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       [count] (
	      Back up count sentences.

       [count] )
	      Move forward count sentences.

       [count] ,
	      Reverse find character count times.

       [count] -
	      Move  to first nonblank of the previous line, count
	      times.

       [count] .
	      Repeat the last vi command that modified text.

       /RE<carriage-return>

       /RE/ [offset]<carriage-return>

       ?RE<carriage-return>

       ?RE? [offset]<carriage-return>

       N

       n      Search forward or backward for  a	 regular  expres-
	      sion.

       0      Move to the first character in the current line.

       :      Execute an ex command.

       [count] ;
	      Repeat the last character find count times.

       [count] < motion

       [count] > motion
	      Shift lines left or right.

       @ buffer
	      Execute a named buffer.

       [count] A
	      Enter  input mode, appending the text after the end
	      of the line.

       [count] B
	      Move backwards count bigwords.

       [buffer] [count] C
	      Change text from the current position to	the  end-
	      of-line.

			 October 10, 1996			7

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       [buffer] D
	      Delete  text  from the current position to the end-
	      of-line.

       [count] E
	      Move forward count end-of-bigwords.

       [count] F <character>
	      Search count times  backward  through  the  current
	      line for <character>.

       [count] G
	      Move to line count, or the last line of the file if
	      count not specified.

       [count] H
	      Move to the screen line count - 1 lines  below  the
	      top of the screen.

       [count] I
	      Enter  input mode, inserting the text at the begin-
	      ning of the line.

       [count] J
	      Join lines.

       [count] L
	      Move to the screen line count - 1 lines  above  the
	      bottom of the screen.

	M     Move  to	the  screen  line  in  the  middle of the
	      screen.

       [count] O
	      Enter input mode, appending  text	 in  a	new  line
	      above the current line.

       [buffer] P
	      Insert text from a buffer.

       Q      Exit vi (or visual) mode and switch to ex mode.

       [count] R
	      Enter  input  mode, replacing the characters in the
	      current line.

       [buffer] [count] S
	      Substitute count lines.

       [count] T <character>
	      Search backwards, count times, through the  current
	      line for the character after the specified <charac-
	      ter>.

			 October 10, 1996			8

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       U      Restore the current line to its  state  before  the
	      cursor last moved to it.

       [count] W
	      Move forward count bigwords.

       [buffer] [count] X
	      Delete count characters before the cursor.

       [buffer] [count] Y
	      Copy  (or	 ``yank'') count lines into the specified
	      buffer.

       ZZ     Write the file and exit vi.

       [count] [[
	      Back up count section boundaries.

       [count] ]]
	      Move forward count section boundaries.

       ^      Move to first nonblank  character	 on  the  current
	      line.

       [count] _
	      Move  down  count	 - 1 lines, to the first nonblank
	      character.

       [count] a
	      Enter input mode, appending the text after the cur-
	      sor.

       [count] b
	      Move backwards count words.

       [buffer] [count] c motion
	      Change a region of text.

       [buffer] [count] d motion
	      Delete a region of text.

       [count] e
	      Move forward count end-of-words.

       [count] f<character>
	      Search  forward,	count  times, through the rest of
	      the current line for <character>.

       [count] i
	      Enter input mode, inserting  the	text  before  the
	      cursor.

       m <character>
	      Save  the	 current  context  (line  and  column) as

			 October 10, 1996			9

VI(1)							    VI(1)

	      <character>.

       [count] o
	      Enter input mode, appending  text	 in  a	new  line
	      under the current line.

       [buffer] p
	      Append text from a buffer.

       [count] r <character>
	      Replace count characters.

       [buffer] [count] s
	      Substitute  count	 characters  in	 the current line
	      starting with the current character.

       [count] t <character>
	      Search forward, count times,  through  the  current
	      line  for the character immediately before <charac-
	      ter>.

       u      Undo the last change made to the file.

       [count] w
	      Move forward count words.

       [buffer] [count] x
	      Delete count characters.

       [buffer] [count] y motion
	      Copy (or ``yank'') a text region specified  by  the
	      count and motion into a buffer.

       [count1] z [count2] -|.|+|^|<carriage-return>
	      Redraw,  optionally  repositioning and resizing the
	      screen.

       [count] {
	      Move backward count paragraphs.

       [count] |
	      Move to a specific column position on  the  current
	      line.

       [count] }
	      Move forward count paragraphs.

       [count] ~
	      Reverse the case of the next count character(s).

       [count] ~ motion
	      Reverse the case of the characters in a text region
	      specified by the count and motion.

			 October 10, 1996		       10

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       <interrupt>
	      Interrupt the current operation.

VI TEXT INPUT COMMANDS
       The following section describes the commands available  in
       the text input mode of the vi editor.

       <nul>  Replay the previous input.

       <control-D>
	      Erase to the previous shiftwidth column boundary.

       ^<control-D>
	      Erase  all  of the autoindent characters, and reset
	      the autoindent level.

       0<control-D>
	      Erase all of the autoindent characters.

       <control-T>
	      Insert sufficient <tab> and <space>  characters  to
	      move  forward  to the next shiftwidth column bound-
	      ary.

       <erase>

       <control-H>
	      Erase the last character.

       <literal next>
	      Quote the next character.

       <escape>
	      Resolve all text input into the file, and return to
	      command mode.

       <line erase>
	      Erase the current line.

       <control-W>

       <word erase>
	      Erase  the  last	word.	The definition of word is
	      dependent on the altwerase and ttywerase options.

       <control-X>[0-9A-Fa-f]+
	      Insert a character with the  specified  hexadecimal
	      value into the text.

       <interrupt>
	      Interrupt	 text  input  mode,  returning to command
	      mode.

			 October 10, 1996		       11

VI(1)							    VI(1)

EX COMMANDS
       The following section describes the commands available  in
       the  ex	editor.	  In  each entry below, the tag line is a
       usage synopsis for the command.

       <end-of-file>
	      Scroll the screen.

       ! argument(s)

       [range]! argument(s)
	      Execute a shell command, or filter lines through	a
	      shell command.

       "      A comment.

       [range] nu[mber] [count] [flags]

       [range] # [count] [flags]
	      Display  the selected lines, each preceded with its
	      line number.

       @ buffer

       * buffer
	      Execute a buffer.

       [line] a[ppend][!]
	      The input text  is  appended  after  the	specified
	      line.

       [range] c[hange][!] [count]
	      The input text replaces the specified range.

       cs[cope] add | find | help | kill | reset
	      Execute a Cscope command.

       [range] d[elete] [buffer] [count] [flags]
	      Delete the lines from the file.

       di[splay] b[uffers] | c[onnections] | s[creens] | t[ags]
	      Display  buffers,	 Cscope	 connections,  screens or
	      tags.

       [Ee][dit][!] [+cmd] [file]

       [Ee]x[!] [+cmd] [file]
	      Edit a different file.

       exu[sage] [command]
	      Display usage for an ex command.

			 October 10, 1996		       12

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       f[ile] [file]
	      Display and optionally change the file name.

       [Ff]g [name]
	      Vi mode only.  Foreground the specified screen.

       [range] g[lobal] /pattern/ [commands]

       [range] v /pattern/ [commands]
	      Apply commands to lines matching (or not	matching)
	      a pattern.

       he[lp] Display a help message.

       [line] i[nsert][!]
	      The  input  text	is  inserted before the specified
	      line.

       [range] j[oin][!] [count] [flags]
	      Join lines of text together.

       [range] l[ist] [count] [flags]
	      Display the lines unambiguously.

       map[!] [lhs rhs]
	      Define or display maps (for vi only).

       [line] ma[rk] <character>

       [line] k <character>
	      Mark the line with the mark <character>.

       [range] m[ove] line
	      Move the specified lines after the target line.

       mk[exrc][!] file
	      Write the abbreviations, editor options and maps to
	      the specified file.

       [Nn][ext][!] [file ...]
	      Edit the next file from the argument list.

       [line] o[pen] /pattern/ [flags]
	      Enter open mode.

       pre[serve]
	      Save the file in a form that can later be recovered
	      using the ex -r option.

       [Pp]rev[ious][!]
	      Edit the previous file from the argument list.

       [range] p[rint] [count] [flags]
	      Display the specified lines.

			 October 10, 1996		       13

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       [line] pu[t] [buffer]
	      Append buffer contents to the current line.

       q[uit][!]
	      End the editing session.

       [line] r[ead][!] [file]
	      Read a file.

       rec[over] file
	      Recover file if it was previously saved.

       res[ize] [+|-]size
	      Vi mode only.  Grow or shrink the current screen.

       rew[ind][!]
	      Rewind the argument list.

       se[t] [option[=[value]] ...] [nooption ...] [option? ...]
       [all]
	      Display or set editor options.

       sh[ell]
	      Run a shell program.

       so[urce] file
	      Read and execute ex commands from a file.

       [range]	 s[ubstitute]	[/pattern/replace/]   [options]
       [count] [flags]

       [range] & [options] [count] [flags]

       [range] ~ [options] [count] [flags]
	      Make substitutions.

       su[spend][!]

       st[op][!]

       <suspend>
	      Suspend the edit session.

       [Tt]a[g][!] tagstring
	      Edit the file containing the specified tag.

       tagn[ext][!]
	      Edit  the	 file containing the next context for the
	      current tag.

       tagp[op][!] [file | number]
	      Pop to the specified tag in the tags stack.

			 October 10, 1996		       14

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       tagp[rev][!]
	      Edit the file containing the previous  context  for
	      the current tag.

       unm[ap][!] lhs
	      Unmap a mapped string.

       ve[rsion]
	      Display the version of the ex/vi editor.

       [line] vi[sual] [type] [count] [flags]
	      Ex mode only.  Enter vi.

       [Vi]i[sual][!] [+cmd] [file]
	      Vi mode only.  Edit a new file.

       viu[sage] [command]
	      Display usage for a vi command.

       [range] w[rite][!] [>>] [file]

       [range] w[rite] [!] [file]

       [range] wn[!] [>>] [file]

       [range] wq[!] [>>] [file]
	      Write the file.

       [range] x[it][!] [file]
	      Write the file if it has been modified.

       [range] ya[nk] [buffer] [count]
	      Copy the specified lines to a buffer.

       [line] z [type] [count] [flags]
	      Adjust the window.

SET OPTIONS
       There  are  a  large number of options that may be set (or
       unset) to change	 the  editor's	behavior.   This  section
       describes  the  options,	 their	abbreviations  and  their
       default values.

       In each entry below, the first part of the tag line is the
       full name of the option, followed by any equivalent abbre-
       viations.  The part in  square  brackets	 is  the  default
       value  of  the  option.	 Most of the options are boolean,
       i.e. they are either on or off, and do not have an associ-
       ated value.

       Options	apply  to  both ex and vi modes, unless otherwise
       specified.

			 October 10, 1996		       15

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       altwerase [off]
	      Vi only.	Select an alternate word erase algorithm.

       autoindent, ai [off]
	      Automatically indent new lines.

       autoprint, ap [off]
	      Ex only.	Display the current line automatically.

       autowrite, aw [off]
	      Write  modified  files  automatically when changing
	      files.

       backup [""]
	      Backup files before they are overwritten.

       beautify, bf [off]
	      Discard control characters.

       cdpath [environment variable CDPATH, or current directory]
	      The  directory  paths used as path prefixes for the
	      cd command.

       cedit [no default]
	      Set the character to edit	 the  colon  command-line
	      history.

       columns, co [80]
	      Set the number of columns in the screen.

       comment [off]
	      Vi only.	Skip leading comments in shell, C and C++
	      language files.

       directory, dir [environment variable TMPDIR, or /tmp]
	      The directory where temporary files are created.

       edcompatible, ed [off]
	      Remember the values of the ``c'' and ``g'' suffices
	      to the substitute commands, instead of initializing
	      them as unset for each new command.

       errorbells, eb [off]
	      Ex only.	Announce error messages with a bell.

       exrc, ex [off]
	      Read the startup files in the local directory.

       extended [off]
	      Regular	 expressions	are    extended	    (i.e.
	      egrep(1)-style) expressions.

       filec [no default]
	      Set  the	character to perform file path completion

			 October 10, 1996		       16

VI(1)							    VI(1)

	      on the colon command line.

       flash [on]
	      Flash the screen instead of beeping the keyboard on
	      error.

       hardtabs, ht [8]
	      Set the spacing between hardware tab settings.

       iclower [off]
	      Makes  all Regular Expressions case-insensitive, as
	      long as an upper-case letter does not appear in the
	      search string.

       ignorecase, ic [off]
	      Ignore case differences in regular expressions.

       keytime [6]
	      The 10th's of a second ex/vi waits for a subsequent
	      key to complete a key mapping.

       leftright [off]
	      Vi only.	Do left-right scrolling.

       lines, li [24]
	      Vi only.	Set the number of lines in the screen.

       lisp [off]
	      Vi  only.	  Modify  various  search  commands   and
	      options  to work with Lisp.  This option is not yet
	      implemented.

       list [off]
	      Display lines in an unambiguous fashion.

       lock [on]
	      Attempt to get an exclusive lock on any file  being
	      edited, read or written.

       magic [on]
	      Treat   certain  characters  specially  in  regular
	      expressions.

       matchtime [7]
	      Vi only.	The 10th's of a second	ex/vi  pauses  on
	      the matching character when the showmatch option is
	      set.

       mesg [on]
	      Permit messages from other users.

       modelines, modeline [off]
	      Read the first and last few lines of each file  for
	      ex   commands.	This   option	will   never   be

			 October 10, 1996		       17

VI(1)							    VI(1)

	      implemented.

       noprint [""]
	      Characters that  are  never  handled  as	printable
	      characters.

       number, nu [off]
	      Precede  each  line displayed with its current line
	      number.

       octal [off]
	      Display  unknown	characters  as	 octal	 numbers,
	      instead of the default hexadecimal.

       open [on]
	      Ex  only.	  If this option is not set, the open and
	      visual commands are disallowed.

       optimize, opt [on]
	      Vi only.	Optimize text throughput to  dumb  termi-
	      nals.  This option is not yet implemented.

       paragraphs, para [IPLPPPQPP LIpplpipbp]
	      Vi  only.	  Define  additional paragraph boundaries
	      for the { and } commands.

       path []
	      Define additional directories to search  for  files
	      being edited.

       print [""]
	      Characters  that	are  always  handled as printable
	      characters.

       prompt [on]
	      Ex only.	Display a command prompt.

       readonly, ro [off]
	      Mark the file and session as read-only.

       recdir [/var/tmp/vi.recover]
	      The directory where recovery files are stored.

       redraw, re [off]
	      Vi only.	Simulate an  intelligent  terminal  on	a
	      dumb one.	 This option is not yet implemented.

       remap [on]
	      Remap keys until resolved.

       report [5]
	      Set  the	number	of  lines  about which the editor
	      reports changes or yanks.

			 October 10, 1996		       18

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       ruler [off]
	      Vi only.	Display a row/column ruler on  the  colon
	      command line.

       scroll, scr [window / 2]
	      Set the number of lines scrolled.

       searchincr [off]
	      Makes the / and ?	 commands incremental.

       sections, sect [NHSHH HUnhsh]
	      Vi  only.	 Define additional section boundaries for
	      the [[ and ]] commands.

       secure [off]
	      Turns off all access to external programs.

       shell, sh [environment variable SHELL, or /bin/sh]
	      Select the shell used by the editor.

       shellmeta [~{[*?$`'"\]
	      Set the meta characters  checked	to  determine  if
	      file name expansion is necessary.

       shiftwidth, sw [8]
	      Set  the	autoindent  and shift command indentation
	      width.

       showmatch, sm [off]
	      Vi only.	Note matching ``{'' and ``(''  for  ``}''
	      and ``)'' characters.

       showmode, smd [off]
	      Vi  only.	  Display  the	current editor mode and a
	      ``modified'' flag.

       sidescroll [16]
	      Vi only.	Set the amount a left-right  scroll  will
	      shift.

       slowopen, slow [off]
	      Delay  display  updating	during	text input.  This
	      option is not yet implemented.

       sourceany [off]
	      Read startup files not owned by the  current  user.
	      This option will never be implemented.

       tabstop, ts [8]
	      This option sets tab widths for the editor display.

       taglength, tl [0]
	      Set the number of	 significant  characters  in  tag
	      names.

			 October 10, 1996		       19

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       tags, tag [tags /var/db/libc.tags /sys/kern/tags]
	      Set the list of tags files.

       term, ttytype, tty [environment variable TERM]
	      Set the terminal type.

       terse [off]
	      This  option  has historically made editor messages
	      less verbose.  It has no effect in this implementa-
	      tion.

       tildeop [off]
	      Modify  the ~ command to take an associated motion.

       timeout, to [on]
	      Time out on keys which may be mapped.

       ttywerase [off]
	      Vi only.	Select an alternate erase algorithm.

       verbose [off]
	      Vi only.	Display an error message for every error.

       w300 [no default]
	      Vi  only.	  Set the window size if the baud rate is
	      less than 1200 baud.

       w1200 [no default]
	      Vi only.	Set the window size if the baud	 rate  is
	      equal to 1200 baud.

       w9600 [no default]
	      Vi  only.	  Set the window size if the baud rate is
	      greater than 1200 baud.

       warn [on]
	      Ex only.	This option causes a warning  message  to
	      the  terminal  if the file has been modified, since
	      it was last written, before a !  command.

       window, w, wi [environment variable LINES]
	      Set the window size for the screen.

       windowname [off]
	      Change the icon/window name  to  the  current  file
	      name even if it can't be restored on editor exit.

       wraplen, wl [0]
	      Vi  only.	 Break lines automatically, the specified
	      number of columns from the  left-hand  margin.   If
	      both  the	 wraplen  and wrapmargin edit options are
	      set, the wrapmargin value is used.

			 October 10, 1996		       20

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       wrapmargin, wm [0]
	      Vi only.	Break lines automatically, the	specified
	      number  of  columns from the right-hand margin.  If
	      both the wraplen and wrapmargin  edit  options  are
	      set, the wrapmargin value is used.

       wrapscan, ws [on]
	      Set searches to wrap around the end or beginning of
	      the file.

       writeany, wa [off]
	      Turn off file-overwriting checks.

ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES
       COLUMNS
	      The number of columns on the  screen.   This  value
	      overrides	 any  system or terminal specific values.
	      If the COLUMNS environmental variable  is	 not  set
	      when  ex/vi  runs, or the columns option is explic-
	      itly reset by the user, ex/vi enters the value into
	      the environment.

       EXINIT A list of ex startup commands, read if the variable
	      NEXINIT is not set.

       HOME   The user's home  directory,  used	 as  the  initial
	      directory path for the startup ``$HOME/.nexrc'' and
	      ``$HOME/.exrc'' files.  This value is also used  as
	      the default directory for the vi cd command.

       LINES  The number of rows on the screen.	 This value over-
	      rides any system or terminal specific  values.   If
	      the  LINES  environmental	 variable is not set when
	      ex/vi runs, or the lines option is explicitly reset
	      by  the user, ex/vi enters the value into the envi-
	      ronment.

       NEXINIT
	      A list of ex startup commands.

       SHELL  The user's shell of  choice  (see	 also  the  shell
	      option).

       TERM   The  user's terminal type.  The default is the type
	      ``unknown''.  If the TERM environmental variable is
	      not  set	when  ex/vi  runs,  or the term option is
	      explicitly reset by  the	user,  ex/vi  enters  the
	      value into the environment.

       TMPDIR The  location  used  to stored temporary files (see
	      also the directory edit option).

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

			 October 10, 1996		       21

VI(1)							    VI(1)

       SIGALRM
	      Vi/ex uses this signal for periodic backups of file
	      modifications and to display ``busy'' messages when
	      operations are likely to take a long time.

       SIGHUP

       SIGTERM
	      If the current buffer has changed since it was last
	      written  in  its	entirety,  the editor attempts to
	      save the modified file so it can	be  later  recov-
	      ered.  See the vi/ex Reference manual section enti-
	      tled ``Recovery'' for more information.

       SIGINT When an interrupt occurs, the current operation  is
	      halted,  and  the	 editor	 returns  to  the command
	      level.  If interrupted during text input, the  text
	      already  input  is resolved into the file as if the
	      text input had been normally terminated.

       SIGWINCH
	      The screen is resized.   See  the	 vi/ex	Reference
	      manual  section  entitled ``Sizing the Screen'' for
	      more information.

       SIGCONT

       SIGQUIT

       SIGTSTP
	      Vi/ex ignores these signals.

FILES
       /bin/sh
	      The default user shell.

       /etc/vi.exrc
	      System-wide vi startup file.

       /tmp   Temporary file directory.

       /var/tmp/vi.recover
	      The default recovery file directory.

       $HOME/.nexrc
	      1st choice for user's home directory startup  file.

       $HOME/.exrc
	      2nd  choice for user's home directory startup file.

       .nexrc 1st choice for local directory startup file.

       .exrc  2nd choice for local directory startup file.

			 October 10, 1996		       22

VI(1)							    VI(1)

SEE ALSO
       ctags(1), more(3), curses(3), dbopen(3)

       The ``Vi Quick Reference'' card.

       ``An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi'',	found  in
       the ``UNIX User's Manual Supplementary Documents'' section
       of both the 4.3BSD and 4.4BSD manual sets.  This	 document
       is  the	closest thing available to an introduction to the
       vi screen editor.

       ``Ex Reference Manual (Version 3.7)'', found in the ``UNIX
       User's  Manual  Supplementary  Documents'' section of both
       the 4.3BSD and 4.4BSD manual sets.  This document  is  the
       final  reference for the ex editor, as distributed in most
       historic 4BSD and System V systems.

       ``Edit: A tutorial'', found in the  ``UNIX  User's  Manual
       Supplementary  Documents''  section  of	the 4.3BSD manual
       set.  This document is an introduction to a simple version
       of the ex screen editor.

       ``Ex/Vi	Reference  Manual'',  found  in the ``UNIX User's
       Manual Supplementary Documents''	 section  of  the  4.4BSD
       manual  set.  This document is the final reference for the
       nex/nvi text editors, as distributed in 4.4BSD and 4.4BSD-
       Lite.

       Roff source for all of these documents is distributed with
       nex/nvi in the nvi/USD.doc directory of the nex/nvi source
       code.

       The   files   ``autowrite'',  ``input'',	 ``quoting''  and
       ``structures'' found in the  nvi/docs/internals	directory
       of the nex/nvi source code.

HISTORY
       The  nex/nvi  replacements  for	the  ex/vi  editor  first
       appeared in 4.4BSD.

STANDARDS
       Nex/nvi is close to IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX'').	That doc-
       ument  differs  from  historical ex/vi practice in several
       places; there are changes to be made on both sides.

			 October 10, 1996		       23

[top]

List of man pages available for BSDi

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net