vi(1) vi(1)
NAME [Toc] [Back]
vi, view, vedit - screen-oriented (visual) text editor
SYNOPSIS [Toc] [Back]
vi [-] [-l] [-r] [-R] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-wsize] [-x] [-C] [+command]
[file ...]
XPG4 Synopsis [Toc] [Back]
vi [-rR] [-c command] [-t tag] [-w size] [file ...]
Obsolescent Options [Toc] [Back]
vi [-rR] [+command] [-t tag] [-w size] [file ...]
view [-] [-l] [-r] [-R] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-wsize] [-x] [-C]
[+command] [file ...]
vedit [-] [-r] [-R] [-l] [-t tag] [-v] [-V] [-wsize] [-x] [-C]
[+command] [file ...]
Remarks [Toc] [Back]
The program names ex, edit, vi, view, and vedit are separate
personalities of the same program. This manual entry describes the
behavior of the vi/view/vedit personality.
DESCRIPTION [Toc] [Back]
The vi (visual) program is a display-oriented text editor that is
based on the underlying ex line editor (see ex(1)). It is possible to
switch back and forth between the two and to execute ex commands from
within vi. The line-editor commands and the editor options are
described in ex(1). Only the visual mode commands are described here.
The view program is identical to vi except that the readonly editor
option is set (see ex(1)).
The vedit program is somewhat friendlier for beginners and casual
users. The report editor option is set to 1, and the nomagic, novice,
and showmode editor options are set.
In vi, the terminal screen acts as a window into a memory copy of the
file being edited. Changes made to the file copy are reflected in the
screen display. The position of the cursor on the screen indicates
the position within the file copy.
The environment variable TERM must specify a terminal type that is
defined in the terminfo database (see terminfo(4)). Otherwise, a
message is displayed and the line-editor is invoked.
As with ex, editor initialization scripts can be placed in the
environment variable EXINIT, or in the file .exrc in the current or
home directory.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 1 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
Options and Arguments [Toc] [Back]
vi recognizes the following command-line options and arguments:
- Suppress all interactive-user feedback. This is useful
when editor commands are taken from scripts.
-l Set the lisp editor option (see ex(1)). Provides
indents appropriate for lisp code. The (, ), {, }, [[,
and ]] commands in vi are modified to function with
lisp source code.
-r Recover the specified files after an editor or system
crash. If no file is specified, a list of all saved
files is printed. You must be the owner of the saved
file in order to recover it (superuser cannot recover
files owned by other users).
-R Set the readonly editor option to prevent overwriting a
file inadvertently (see ex(1)).
-t tag Execute the tag tag command to load and position a
predefined file. See the tag command and the tags
editor option in ex(1).
-v Invoke visual mode (vi). Useful with ex, it has no
effect on vi.
-V Set verbose mode. Editor commands are displayed as
they are executed when input from a .exrc file or a
source file (see the source command in ex(1)).
-wsize Set the value of the window editor option to size. If
size is omitted, it defaults to 3.
-x Set encryption mode. You are prompted for a key to
allow for the creation or editing of an encrypted file.
This command makes an educated guess to determine
whether text read in is encrypted or not. The
temporary buffer file is encrypted also, using a
transformed version of the key typed in for the -x
option (see the crypt command in ex(1)).
-C Encryption option. Same as the -x option, except that
all text read in is assumed to have been encrypted.
-c command (XPG4 only.)
+command (Obsolescent) Begin editing by executing the
specified ex command-mode commands. As with the
normal ex command-line entries, the command optionargument
can consist of multiple ex commands
separated by vertical-line commands (|). The use of
Hewlett-Packard Company - 2 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
commands that enter input mode in this manner
produces undefined results.
file Specify the file or files to be edited. If more than
one file is specified, they are processed in the order
given. If the -r option is also specified, the files
are read from the recovery area.
(XPG4 only.) If both the -t tag and -c command (or the obsolescent
+command) options are given, the -t tag will be processed first, that
is, the file containing the tag is selected by -t and then the command
is executed.
When invoked, vi is in command mode. input mode is initiated by
several commands used to insert or change text.
In input mode, ESC (escape) is used to leave input mode; however, two
consecutive ESC characters are required to leave input mode if the
doubleescape editor option is set (see ex(1)).
In command mode, ESC is used to cancel a partial command; the terminal
bell sounds if the editor is not in input mode and there is no
partially entered command.
WARNING: ESC completes a "bottom line" command (see below).
The last (bottom) line of the screen is used to echo the input for
search commands (/ and ?), ex commands (:), and system commands (!).
It is also used to report errors or print other messages.
The receipt of SIGINT during text input or during the input of a
command on the bottom line terminates the input (or cancels the
command) and returns the editor to command mode. During command mode,
SIGINT causes the bell to be sounded. In general the bell indicates
an error (such as an unrecognized key).
Lines displayed on the screen containing only a ~ indicate that the
last line above them is the last line of the file (the ~ lines are
past the end of the file). Terminals with limited local intelligence
might display lines on the screen marked with an @. These indicate
space on the screen not corresponding to lines in the file. (These
lines can be removed by entering a ^R, forcing the editor to retype
the screen without these holes.)
If the system crashes or vi aborts due to an internal error or
unexpected signal, vi attempts to preserve the buffer if any unwritten
changes were made. Use the -r command line option to retrieve the
saved changes.
The vi text editor supports the SIGWINCH signal, and redraws the
screen in response to window-size changes.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 3 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
Command Summary [Toc] [Back]
Most commands accept a preceding number as an argument, either to give
a size or position (for display or movement commands), or as a repeat
count (for commands that change text). For simplicity, this optional
argument is referred to as count when its effect is described.
The following operators can be followed by a movement command to
specify an extent of text to be affected: c, d, y, <, >, !, and =.
The region specified begins at the current cursor position and ends
just prior to the cursor position indicated by the move. If the
command operates on lines only, all the lines that fall partly or
wholly within this region are affected. Otherwise the exact marked
region is affected.
In the following description, control characters are indicated in the
form ^X, which represents Ctrl-X. Whitespace is defined to be the
characters space, tab, and alternative space. Alternative space is
the first character of the ALT_PUNCT item described in langinfo(5) for
the language specified by the LANG environment variable (see
environ(5)).
Unless otherwise specified, the commands are interpreted in command
mode and have no special effect in input mode.
^B Scroll backward to display the previous window of
text. A preceding count specifies the number of
windows to go back. Two lines of overlap are kept if
possible.
^D Scroll forward a half-window of text. A preceding
count gives the number of (logical) lines to scroll,
and is remembered for future ^D and ^U commands.
^D (input mode) Backs up over the indentation provided
by autoindent or ^T to the next multiple of
shiftwidth spaces. Whitespace inserted by ^T at
other than the beginning of a line cannot be backed
over using ^D. A preceding ^ removes all indentation
for the current and subsequent input lines of the
current input mode until new indentation is
established by inserting leading whitespace, either
by direct input or by using ^T.
^E Scroll forward one line, leaving the cursor where it
is if possible.
^F Scroll forward to display the window of text
following the current one. A preceding count
specifies the number of windows to advance. Two
lines of overlap are kept if possible.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 4 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
(XPG4 only.) The current line is displayed and the
cursor is moved to the first nonblank character of
the current line or the first character if the line
is a blank line.
^G Print the current file name and other information,
including the number of lines and the current
position (equivalent to the ex command f).
^H Move one space to the left (stops at the left
margin). A preceding count specifies the number of
spaces to back up. (Same as h).
^H (input mode) Move the cursor left to the previous
input character without erasing it from the screen.
The character is deleted from the saved text.
^J Move the cursor down one line in the same column, if
possible. A preceding count specifies the number of
lines to move down. (Same as ^N and j).
^L Clear and redraw the screen. Use when the screen is
scrambled for any reason.
^M Move to the first nonwhitespace character in the next
line. A preceding count specifies the number of
lines to advance.
^N Same as ^J and j.
^P Move the cursor up one line in the same column. A
preceding count specifies the number of lines to move
up (same as k).
^R Redraw the current screen, eliminating the false
lines marked with @ (which do not correspond to
actual lines in the file).
^T Pop the tag stack. See the pop command in ex(1).
^T (input mode) Insert shiftwidth whitespace. If at the
beginning of the line, this inserted space can only
be backed over using ^D.
^U Scroll up a half-window of text. A preceding count
gives the number of (logical) lines to scroll, and is
remembered for future ^D and ^U commands.
^V In input mode, ^V quotes the next character to permit
the insertion of special characters (including ESC)
into the file.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 5 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
^W In input mode, ^W backs up one word; the deleted
characters remain on the display.
^Y Scroll backward one line, leaving the cursor where it
is, if possible.
^[ Cancel a partially formed command; ^[ sounds the bell
if there is no partially formed command.
In input mode, ^[ terminates input mode. However,
two consecutive ESC characters are required to
terminate input mode if the doubleescape editor
option is set (see ex(1)).
When entering a command on the bottom line of the
screen (ex command line or search pattern with \ or
?), terminate input and execute command.
On many terminals, ^[ can be entered by pressing the
ESC or ESCAPE key.
^\ Exit vi and enter ex command mode. If in input mode,
terminate the input first.
^] Take the word at or after the cursor as a tag and
execute the tagMbobC editor command (see ex(1)).
^^ Return to the previous file (equivalent to :ex #).
space Move one space to the right (stops at the end of the
line). A preceding count specifies the number of
spaces to go forward (same as l).
erase Erase, where erase is the user-designated erase
character (see stty(1)). Same as ^H.
kill Kill, where kill is the user-designated kill
character (see stty(1)). In input mode, kill backs
up to the beginning of the current input line without
erasing the line from the screen display.
susp Suspend the editor session and return to the calling
shell, where susp is the user-designated processcontrol
suspend character (see stty(1)). See ex(1)
for more information on the suspend editor command.
! An operator that passes specified lines from the
buffer as standard input to the specified system
command, and replaces those lines with the standard
output from the command. The ! is followed by a
movement command specifying the lines to be passed
Hewlett-Packard Company - 6 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
(lines from the current position to the end of the
movement) and then the command (terminated as usual
by a return). A preceding count is passed on to the
movement command after !.
Doubling ! and preceding it by count causes that
many lines, starting with the current line, to be
passed.
" Use to precede a named buffer specification. There
are named buffers 1 through 9 in which the editor
places deleted text. The named buffers a through z
are available to the user for saving deleted or
yanked text; see also y, below.
$ Move to the end of the current line. A preceding
count specifies the number of lines to advance (for
example, 2$ causes the cursor to advance to the end
of the next line).
% Move to the parenthesis or brace that matches the
parenthesis or brace at the current cursor position.
& Same as the ex command & (that is, & repeats the
previous substitute command).
' When followed by a ', vi returns to the previous
context, placing the cursor at the beginning of the
line. (The previous context is set whenever a
nonrelative move is made.) When followed by a letter
a-z, returns to the line marked with that letter (see
the m command), at the first nonwhitespace character
in the line.
When used with an operator such as d to specify an
extent of text, the operation takes place over
complete lines (see also `).
` When followed by a `, vi returns to the previous
context, placing the cursor at the character position
marked (the previous context is set whenever a
nonrelative move is made). When followed by a letter
a z, returns to the line marked with that letter (see
the m command), at the character position marked.
When used with an operator such as d to specify an
extent of text, the operation takes place from the
exact marked place to the current position within the
line (see also ').
Hewlett-Packard Company - 7 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
[[ Back up to the previous section boundary. A section
is defined by the value of the sections option.
Lines that start with a form feed (^L) or { also stop
[[.
If the option lisp is set, the cursor stops at each (
at the beginning of a line.
]] Move forward to a section boundary (see [[).
^ Move to the first nonwhitespace position on the
current line.
( Move backward to the beginning of a sentence. A
sentence ends at a ., !, or ? followed by either the
end of a line or by two spaces. Any number of
closing ), ], ", and ' characters can appear between
the ., !, or ? and the spaces or end of line. If a
count is specified, the cursor moves back the
specified number of sentences.
If the lisp option is set, the cursor moves to the
beginning of a lisp s-expression. Sentences also
begin at paragraph and section boundaries (see { and
[[).
) Move forward to the beginning of a sentence. If a
count is specified, the cursor advances the specified
number of sentences (see ().
{ Move back to the beginning of the preceding
paragraph. A paragraph is defined by the value of
the paragraphs option. A completely empty line and a
section boundary (see [[ above) are also interpreted
as the beginning of a paragraph. If a count is
specified, the cursor moves backward the specified
number of paragraphs.
} Move forward to the beginning of the next paragraph.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the
specified number of paragraphs (see {).
| Requires a preceding count; the cursor moves to the
specified column of the current line (if possible).
+ Move to the first nonwhitespace character in the next
line. If a count is specified, the cursor advances
the specified number of lines (same as ^M).
, The comma (,) performs the reverse action of the last
f, F, t, or T command issued, by searching in the
Hewlett-Packard Company - 8 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
opposite direction on the current line. If a count
is specified, the cursor repeats the search the
specified number of times.
- The hyphen character (-) moves the cursor to the
first nonwhitespace character in the previous line.
If a count is specified, the cursor moves back the
specified number of times.
_ The underscore character (_) moves the cursor to the
first nonwhitespace character in the current line.
If a count is specified, the cursor advances the
specified number of lines, with the current line
being counted as the first line; no count or a count
of 1 specifies the current line.
. Repeat the last command that changed the buffer. If
a count is specified, the command is repeated the
specified number of times.
/ Read a string from the last line on the screen,
interpret it as a regular expression, and scan
forward for the next occurrence of a matching string.
The search begins when the user types a carriage
return to terminate the pattern; the search can be
terminated by sending SIGINT (or the user-designated
interrupt character).
When used with an operator to specify an extent of
text, the defined region begins with the current
cursor position and ends at the beginning of the
matched string. Entire lines can be specified by
giving an offset from the matched line (by using a
closing / followed by a +n or -n).
0 Move to the first character on the current line (the
0 is not interpreted as a command when preceded by a
nonzero digit).
: The colon character (:) begins an ex command. The :
and the entered command are echoed on the bottom
line; the ex command is executed when the user types
a carriage return.
; Repeat the last single character find using f, F, t,
or T. If a count is specified, the search is
repeated the specified number of times.
< An operator that shifts lines to the left by one
shiftwidth. The < can be followed by a move to
specify lines. A preceding count is passed through
Hewlett-Packard Company - 9 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
to the move command.
When repeated (<<), shifts the current line (or count
lines starting at the current one).
> An operator that shifts lines right one shiftwidth
(see <).
= If the lisp option is set, = reindents the specified
lines, as if they were typed in with lisp and
autoindent set. = can be preceded by a count to
indicate how many lines to process, or followed by a
move command for the same purpose.
? Scan backwards, the reverse of / (see /).
@buffer Execute the commands stored in the named buffer. Be
careful not to include a <return> character at the
end of the buffer contents unless the <return> is
part of the command stream. Commands to be executed
in ex mode should be preceded by a colon (:).
~ The tilde (~) switches the case of the character
under the cursor (if it is a letter), then moves one
character to the right, stopping at the end of the
line). A preceding count specifies how many
characters in the current line are switched.
A Append at the end of line (same as $a).
B Back up one word, where a word is any nonblank
sequence, placing the cursor at the beginning of the
word. If a count is specified, the cursor moves back
the specified number of words.
C Change the rest of the text on the current line (same
as c$).
D Delete the rest of the text on the current line (same
as d$).
E Move forward to the end of a word, where a word is
any nonblank sequence. If a count is specified, the
cursor advances the specified number of words.
F Must be followed by a single character; scans
backwards in the current line, searching for that
character and moving the cursor to it, if found. If
a count is specified, the search is repeated the
specified number of times.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 10 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
G Go to the line number given as preceding argument, or
the end of the file if no preceding count is given.
H Move the cursor to the top line on the screen. If a
count is given, the cursor moves to count number of
lines from the top of the screen. The cursor is
placed on the first nonwhitespace character on the
line. If used as the target of an operator, entire
lines are affected.
I Insert at the beginning of a line (same as ^ followed
by i).
J Join the current line with the next one, supplying
appropriate whitespace: one space between words, two
spaces after a period, and no spaces at all if the
first character of the next line is a closing
parenthesis ()). A preceding count causes the
specified number of lines to be joined, instead of
just two.
L Move the cursor to the first nonwhitespace character
of the last line on the screen. If a count is given,
the cursor moves to count number of lines from the
bottom of the screen. When used with an operator,
entire lines are affected.
M Move the cursor to the middle line on the screen, at
the first nonwhitespace position on the line.
N Scan for the next match of the last pattern given to
/ or ?, but in the opposite direction; this is the
reverse of n.
O Open a new line above the current line and enter
input mode.
P Put back (replace) the last deleted or yanked text
before/above the cursor. Entire lines of text are
returned above the cursor if entire lines were
deleted or yanked. Otherwise, the text is inserted
just before the cursor.
(XPG4 only.) In this case, the cursor is moved to
last column position of the inserted characters.
If P is preceded by a named buffer specification (x),
the contents of that buffer are retrieved instead.
Q Exit vi and enter ex command mode.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 11 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
R Replace characters on the screen with characters
entered, until the input is terminated with ESC.
S Change entire lines (same as cc). A preceding count
changes the specified number of lines.
T Must be followed by a single character; scan
backwards in the current line for that character,
and, if found, place the cursor just after that
character. A count is equivalent to repeating the
search the specified number of times.
U Restore the current line to its state before the
cursor was last moved to it.
(XPG4 only.) The cursor position is set to the column
position 1 or to the position indicated by the
previous line if the autoindent is set.
W Move forward to the beginning of a word in the
current line, where a word is a sequence of nonblank
characters. If the current position is at the
beginning of a word, the current position is within a
bigword or the character at that position cannot be a
part of a bigword, the current position shall move to
the first character of the next bigword. If no
subsequent bigword exists on the current line, the
current position shall move to the first character of
the first bigword on the first following line that
contains the bigword. For this command, an empty or
blank line is considered to contain exactly one
bigword. The current line is set to the line
containing the bigword selected and the current
position is set to the first character of the bigword
selected. A preceding count specifies the number of
words to advance.
X Delete the character before the cursor. A preceding
count repeats the effect, but only characters on the
current line are deleted.
Y Place (yank) a copy of the current line into the
unnamed buffer (same as yy). If a count is
specified, count lines are copied to the buffer. If
the Y is preceded by a buffer name, the lines are
copied to the named buffer.
ZZ Exit the editor, writing out the buffer if it was
changed since the last write (same as the ex command
x). Note that if the last write was to a different
file and no changes have occurred since, the editor
Hewlett-Packard Company - 12 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
exits without writing out the buffer.
a Enter input mode, appending the entered text after
the current cursor position. A preceding count
causes the inserted text to be replicated the
specified number of times, but only if the inserted
text is all on one line.
b Back up to the previous beginning of a word in the
current line. A word is a sequence of alphanumerics
or a sequence of special characters. A preceding
count repeats the effect.
c Must be followed by a movement command. Delete the
specified region of text, and enter input mode to
replace deleted text with new text. If more than
part of a single line is affected, the deleted text
is saved in the numeric buffers. If only part of the
current line is affected, the last character deleted
is marked with a $. A preceding count passes that
value through to the move command. If the command is
cc, the entire current line is changed.
d Must be followed by a movement command. Delete the
specified region of text. If more than part of a
line is affected, the text is saved in the numeric
buffers. A preceding count passes that value through
to the move command. If the command is dd, the
entire current line is deleted.
e Move forward to the end of the next word, defined as
for b. A preceding count repeats the effect.
f Must be followed by a single character; scan the rest
of the current line for that character, and moves the
cursor to it if found. A preceding count repeats the
action that many times.
h Move the cursor one character to the left (same as
^H). A preceding count repeats the effect.
i Enter input mode, inserting the entered text before
the cursor (see a).
j Move the cursor one line down in the same column
(same as ^J and ^N).
k Move the cursor one line up (same as ^P).
l Move the cursor one character to the right (same as
<space>).
Hewlett-Packard Company - 13 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
mx Mark the current position of the cursor. x is a
lowercase letter, a-z, that is used with the ` and '
commands to refer to the marked line or line
position.
n Repeat the last / or ? scanning commands.
o Open a line below the current line and enter input
mode; otherwise like O.
p Put text after/below the cursor; otherwise like P.
r Must be followed by a single character; the character
under the cursor is replaced by the specified one.
(The new character can be a new-line.) If r is
preceded by a count, count characters are replaced by
the specified character.
s Delete the single character under the cursor and
enter input mode; the entered text replaces the
deleted character. A preceding count specifies how
many characters on the current line are changed. The
last character being changed is marked with a $, as
for c.
t Must be followed by a single character; scan the
remainder of the line for that character. The cursor
moves to the column prior to the character if the
character is found. A preceding count is equivalent
to repeating the search count times.
u Reverse the last change made to the current buffer.
If repeated, u alternates between these two states;
thus is its own inverse. When used after an
insertion of text on more than one line, the lines
are saved in the numerically named buffers.
w Move forward to the beginning of the next word (where
word is defined as in b). A preceding count
specifies how many words the cursor advances.
x Delete the single character under the cursor. When x
is preceded by a count, x deletes the specified
number of characters forward from the cursor
position, but only on the current line.
y Must be followed by a movement command; the specified
text is copied (yanked) into the unnamed temporary
buffer. If preceded by a named buffer specification,
"x, the text is placed in that buffer also. If the
command is yy, the entire current line is yanked.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 14 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
z Redraw the screen with the current line placed as
specified by the following options: z<return>
specifies the top of the screen, z. the center of
the screen, and z- the bottom of the screen. The
commands z^ and z+ are similar to ^B and ^F,
respectively. However, z^ and z+ do not attempt to
maintain two lines of overlap. A count after the z
and before the following character to specifies the
number of lines displayed in the redrawn screen. A
count before the z gives the number of the line to
use as the reference line instead of the default
current line.
Keyboard Editing Keys [Toc] [Back]
At initialization, the editor automatically maps some terminal
keyboard editing keys to equivalent visual mode commands. These
mappings are only established for keys that are listed in the
following table and defined in the terminfo(4) database as valid for
the current terminal (as specified by the TERM environment variable).
Both command and input mode mappings are created (see the map command
in ex(1)). With the exception of the insert char keys, which simply
toggle input mode on and off, the input mode mappings exit input mode,
perform the same action as the command mode mapping, and then reenter
input mode.
On certain terminals, the character sequence sent by a keyboard
editing key, which is then mapped to a visual mode command, can be the
same character sequence a user might enter to perform another command
or set of commands. This is most likely to happen with the input mode
mappings; therefore, on these terminals, the input mode mappings are
disabled by default. Users can override the disabling and enabling of
both the command and input mode keyboard editing key mappings by
setting the keyboardedit and keyboardedit! editor options as
appropriate (see ex(1)). The timeout, timeoutlen, and doubleescape
editor options are alternative methods of addressing this problem.
terminfo command input map
entry mode map mode map name description
__________________________________________________________________
key_ic i ^[ inschar insert char
key_eic i ^[ inschar end insert char
key_up k ^[ka up arrow up
key_down j ^[ja down arrow down
key_left h ^[ha left arrow left
key_right l ^[la right arrow right
key_home H ^[Ha home arrow home
key_il o^[ ^[o^[a insline insert line
key_dl dd ^[dda delline delete line
key_clear ^L ^[^La clear clear screen
Hewlett-Packard Company - 15 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
key_eol d$ ^[d$a clreol clear line
key_sf ^E ^[^Ea scrollf scroll down
key_dc x ^[xa delchar delete char
key_npage ^F ^[^Fa npage next page
key_ppage ^B ^[^Ba ppage previous page
key_sr ^Y ^[^Ya sr scroll up
key_eos dG ^[dGa clreos clear to end of screen
__________________________________________________________________
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES [Toc] [Back]
Support for international codes and environment variables are as
follows:
Environment Variables [Toc] [Back]
UNIX95 specifies using the XPG4 behaviour for this command.
COLUMNS overrides the system-selected horizontal screen size.
LINES overrides the system-selected vertical screen size, used as the
number of lines in a screenful and the vertical screen size in visual
mode.
SHELL is a variable that shall be interpreted as the preferred
command-line interpreter for use in !, shell, read, and other commands
with an operand of the form !string. For the shell command the
program shall be invoked with the two arguments -c and string. If
this variable is null or not set, the sh utility shall be used.
TERM is a variable that shall be interpreted as the name of the
terminal type. If this variable is unset or null, an unspecified
default terminal type shall be used.
PATH determines the search path for the shell command specified in the
editor commands, shell, read, and write. EXINIT determines a list of
ex commands that will be executed on editor startup, before reading
the first file. The list can contain multiple commands by separating
them using a vertical line (|) character.
HOME determines a pathname of a directory that will be searched for an
editor startup file named .exrc.
LC_ALL This variable shall determine the locale to be used to override
any values for locale categories specified by the setting of LANG or
any environment variables beginning with LC_.
LC_MESSAGES determines the locale that should be used to affect the
format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error
and informative messages written to standard output.
LC_COLLATE determines the collating sequence used in evaluating
Hewlett-Packard Company - 16 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
regular expressions and in processing the tags file. LC_CTYPE
determines the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte
characters, the classification of characters as uppercase or lowercase
letters, the shifting of letters between uppercase and lowercase, and
the characters matched by character class expressions in regular
expressions.
LANG determines the language in which messages are displayed.
LANGOPTS specifies options determining how text for right-to-left
languages is stored in input and output files. See environ(5).
If LC_COLLATE or LC_CTYPE is not specified in the environment or is
set to the empty string, the value of LANG is used as a default for
each unspecified or empty variable. If LANG is not specified or is
set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used
instead of LANG. If any internationalization variable contains an
invalid setting, the editor behaves as if all internationalization
variables are set to "C". See environ(5).
International Code Set Support [Toc] [Back]
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
WARNINGS [Toc] [Back]
See also the WARNINGS section in ex(1).
Program Limits [Toc] [Back]
vi places the following limits on files being edited.
Maximum Line Length [Toc] [Back]
4096 characters including 2-3 bytes for overhead. Thus, a line length
up to 4092 characters should cause no problem.
If you load a file that contain lines longer than the specified limit,
the lines are truncated to the stated maximum length. Saving the file
will write the truncated version over the original file, thus
overwriting the original lines completely.
Attempting to create lines longer than the allowable maximum for the
editor produces a line too long error message.
Maximum File Size [Toc] [Back]
The maximum file length of 234,239 lines is silently enforced.
Other limits [Toc] [Back]
+ 256 characters per global command list.
+ 128 characters in a file name in vi or ex open mode. On
short-file-name HP-UX systems, the maximum file name length is
14 characters.
Hewlett-Packard Company - 17 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003
vi(1) vi(1)
+ 128 characters in a previous insert/delete buffer.
+ 100 characters in a shell-escape command.
+ 63 characters in a string-valued option (:set command).
+ 30 characters in a program tag name.
+ 32 or fewer macros defined by map command.
+ 512 or fewer characters total in combined map macros.
Do not use the -C option to edit unencrypted files. The -C option is
meant to be used only on files that are already encrypted. If the -C
option is used on files which are not yet encrypted, a write in the
edit session is likely to corrupt the file.
AUTHOR [Toc] [Back]
vi was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The 16-
bit extensions to vi are based in part on software of the Toshiba
Corporation.
SEE ALSO [Toc] [Back]
ctags(1), ed(1), ex(1), stty(1), write(1), terminfo(4), environ(5),
lang(5), regexp(5).
The Ultimate Guide to the vi and ex Text Editors, Benjamin/Cummings
Publishing Company, Inc., ISBN 0-8053-4460-8, HP part number 97005-
90015.
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE [Toc] [Back]
vi: SVID2, SVID3, XPG2, XPG3, XPG4
Hewlett-Packard Company - 18 - HP-UX 11i Version 2: August 2003 [ Back ] |
