Vi for nano users


            markus schnalke <meillo@marmaro.de>
          (Inspired and motivated by Toni Mueller)






Motivation

Vi is a powerful editor and hence frequently used by profes-
sionals.   Novices  often  use  nano  which is known to be a
``small and friendly'' text editor.  This document wants  to
show  that learning the basics of vi is not much harder than
learning nano, especially if vim is used.

The modal interface

Learning vi means understanding its modal interface which is
its  basic  concept.   It makes vi ``strange'' but powerful.
Once having understood the modal interface the rest will  be
easy.

     When you startup vi you'll always find yourself in  the
command  mode,  the  central mode.  Hitting the `Escape' key
brings you always back to the command mode.

     To insert text you need to switch to insert mode.   You
can  do  this  by  hitting `i' (insert before cursor) or `A'
(append to end of line).  When you  have  finished  editing,
`Escape' to command mode.

     The ex  mode  covers  administrative  operations.   You
enter it by typing `:'.  See the colon appearing on the last
terminal line.  `:w' writes the file out, `:wq'  writes  and
quits,  `:q!'  quits  without  saving.  `Enter' executes the
operation, `Escape' aborts it.  In both cases you return  to
command mode (or to the shell in case of quit).

                     +----------+
                     |  insert  |
                     |   mode   |
                     +----------+
                         ^  |
                       i |  | Escape
                       A |  |
                         |  v
                     ############
        START -----> # command  #  n N
                     #   mode   #  u G
                     ############
                         |  ^
                       : |  | Escape
                       / |  | Enter
                         v  |
                     +----------+
                     |    ex    | :w  :wq
                     |   mode   | :q!
                     +----------+

Cursor movement

This is easy if you use vim:  The cursor keys and  PgUp/PgDn
work  both in command and insert mode.  With vi you can only
move the cursor in  command  mode  with:   `h'  (left),  `j'
(down),  `k' (up), `l' (right), `Ctrl-f' (page forward), and
`Ctrl-b' (page backward).

                          ^
          +---+  +---+  +---+  +---+
        <-| h |  | j |  | k |  | l |->
          +---+  +---+  +---+  +---+
                   v


Additional important functions

To search for text (regular expressions, actually)  hit  `/'
in  command  mode, insert a pattern, then hit `Enter'.  This
moves the cursor to the next match.  You can jump from match
to match with `n' (forward) and `N' (backward).

     To jump to a specific line type the line  number  (it's
not  printed  anywhere) and `G' in command mode.  `1G' means
the first line, `G' without number means the last line.

     To undo the last change hit `u'.  It  depends  on  your
implementation if you have multiple undo steps or just one.

Why vi and not simply nano?

Because vi is omnipresent and because vi  scales  well  when
you advance.

     Edit files more efficient!  With vi you  can  incremen-
tally  learn  further  functions  and shortcuts that improve
your productivity.

     This document shows only how to access the vi  features
that typical nano users usually use.  Using vi on this level
is hardly better than using nano, but it is  the  basis  for
mastering vi.

     The command mode offers a lot of functions you'll never
want  to  miss  once you've learnt them.  Professional users
are able to do really impressive operations in ex mode, too.
Actually, vi is two powerful editors in one: ex and vi.

Learn vi, you won't regret it!