[Chapter 8] 8.3 Edit Commands
Author: Daniel Gilly & the Staff of O'Reilly & Associates
Date: 1998-08-06T21:59:55Z

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| Chapter 8 The Vi Editor |

## 8.3 Edit Commands

Recall that `c`, `d`, and `y` are the basic editing operators.

### 8.3.1 Inserting New Text

a | Append after cursor.
A | Append to end of line.
i | Insert before cursor.
I | Insert at beginning of line.
o | Open a line below cursor.
O | Open a line above cursor.
ESC | Terminate insert mode.
CTRL-J | Move down one line.
RETURN | Move down one line.
CTRL-I | Insert a tab.
CTRL-T | Move to next tab setting.
BACKSPACE | Move back one character.
CTRL-H | Move back one character.
CTRL-U | Delete current line.
CTRL-V | Quote next character.
CTRL-W | Move back one word.

The last four control characters are set by `stty`. Your terminal settings may differ.

### 8.3.2 Changing and Deleting Text

cw | Change word.
cc | Change line.
C | Change text from current position to end of line.
dd | Delete current line.
`n`dd | Delete n lines.
D | Delete remainder of line.
dw | Delete a word.
d} | Delete up to next paragraph.
d^ | Delete back to beginning of line.
d/`pat` | Delete up to first occurrence of pattern.
dn | Delete up to next occurrence of pattern.
df`a` | Delete up to and including a on current line.
dt`a` | Delete up to (not including) a on current line.
dL | Delete up to last line on screen.
dG | Delete to end of file.
p | Insert last deleted text after cursor.
P | Insert last deleted text before cursor.
r`x` | Replace character with x.
R`text` | Replace text beginning at cursor.
s | Substitute character.
4s | Substitute four characters.
S | Substitute entire line.
u | Undo last change.
U | Restore current line.
x | Delete current cursor position.
X | Delete back one character.
5X | Delete previous five characters.
. | Repeat last change.
~ | Reverse case.

### 8.3.3 Copying and Moving

Y | Copy current line to new buffer.
yy | Copy current line.
"`x`yy | Yank current line to buffer `x`.
"`x`d | Delete into buffer `x`.
"`X`d | Delete and append into buffer `x`.
"`x`p | Put contents of buffer `x`.
y]] | Copy up to next section heading.
ye | Copy to end of word.

8.2 Movement Commands |  | 8.4 Saving and Exiting