vim - vi Improved (Text Editor)

This part of the Linux tutorials introduces the vim text editor and describes its main features and use cases. A short explanation of the most important commands paired with examples on how to use them allow the user to delve right in. The tutorial demonstrates the basics, like opening/writing files or moving within the text as well as the most often employed tasks like search&replace or copy&paste which makes it interesting to both complete beginners and more intermediate users. The vim text editor's main advantage is that it's present in most unix operational systems, futhermore it's highly configurable and provides an extensive plugin system.

Video

( Slides as pdf)

Quiz

How many windows does vim use?

	it runs in the console and opens additional windows
	it can start in the console but it requires the X window system and opens additional windows
	it runs completely inside the console

How many modes does vim have?

	it has only one mode
	it has two modes
	it has at least three modes

How to enter the insert mode of vim?

	press enter key
	press i key
	press Esc key

How to save a file and exit during normal mode?

	press :q! keys and enter
	press :wq keys and enter or :X keys and enter or ZZ keys
	press Ctrl-x Ctrl-s keys

How to copy and paste 5 entire lines in normal mode?

	press 5yy keys, move the cursor and press p
	press 5yy keys, move the cursor and press 5p
	press Ctrl-c Ctrl-v keys

How to perform a forward search for the pattern foo, afterwards a backward search for the pattern bar in normal mode?

	press /foo and enter, afterwards //bar and enter
	press /foo and enter, afterwards ?bar and enter
	press :f/foo/ and enter, afterwards :r/bar/ and enter

How to search and replace all occurences of the pattern foo with bar in normal mode?

	press :s%/foo/bar/g keys and enter
	press :s%/foo/bar/ keys and enter
	press :sed%/foo/bar/ keys and enter

How would you open a file in read-only mode using the vim editor?
Hint: In terminal man vim

	$ vim -r filename
	$ vim -R filename
	$ vim -n filename

Info:

If you forget in which mode you are in while using vim, just keep pressing Esc.

Exercises in Terminal

1. Create a vim file and write some text in it with insert (pressing i) and than undo and redo the changes. 
2. Copy (yank) multiple lines and paste them
3. Search for a certain pattern and replace it with another

Answer:

     $ vim test.txt 
     In vim editor press i to insert text and write few lines.
     Press Esc than press u (for undo) after that press ctrl + r on keyboard for redo.
        - u: undo last change (can be repeated to undo preceding commands).
        - Ctrl-r: Redo changes which were undone (undo the undos).
     In order to copy a line press yy, for several lines preclude with the command with a number, e.g. 5yy.
     For pasting simply press p. 
     Search & Replace can be executed with the command :s%/foo/bar/g, it will search and replace the pattern foo 
     and replace it with bar in the entire file. Without the g modifier, it would search the entire file as well but only
     the first occurence in each line would be replaced. The c modifier asks for a confirmation each time.

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