term% cat index.txt VI(1) General Commands Manual VI(1)
NAME
ex, vi - text editor
SYNOPSIS
ex [ - ] [ -v ] [ -t tag ] [ -r ] [ -R ] [ +command ] [ -l ] name ...
edit [ options ]
vi [ -t tag ] [ -r ] [ -R ] [ +command ] [ -l ] [ -wn ] name ...
DESCRIPTION
Ex is a superset of ed(1) with a display editing facility; edit is a
simplified subset of ex; and vi is a fully display-based editor with
similar capabilities. Option -R makes the editor read-only.
FILES
/usr/lib/ex?.?strings error messages
/usr/lib/ex?.?recover recover command
/usr/lib/ex?.?preserve preserve command
/etc/termcap describes capabilities of terminals
~/.exrc editor startup file
/tmp/Exnnnnn editor temporary
/tmp/Rxnnnnn named buffer temporary
/usr/preserve preservation directory
SEE ALSO
Edit: A Tutorial
Ex Reference Manual
An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi
Vi Quick Reference Card, all in BSD 4.1 Progammer's Manual, Volume 2
ed(1), jim(9.1), sed(1)
BUGS
The undo command causes all marks to be lost on lines changed and then
restored if the marked lines were changed.
Undo never clears the buffer modified condition.
The z command prints a number of logical rather than physical lines.
More than a screen full of output may result if long lines are present.
File input/output errors don't print a name if the command line ‘-' op‐
tion is used.
There is no easy way to do a single scan ignoring case.
The editor does not warn if text is placed in named buffers and not
used before exiting the editor.
Null characters are discarded in input files, and cannot appear in re‐
sultant files.
Software tabs using ^T work only immediately after the autoindent.
The wrapmargin option can be fooled since it looks at output columns
when blanks are typed. If a long word passes through the margin and
onto the next line without a break, then the line won't be broken.
The source command does not work when executed as :source; there is no
way to use the :append, :change, and :insert commands in vi, since it
is not possible to give more than one line of input to a : escape. To
use these on a :global you must Q to ex command mode, execute them, and
then reenter the screen editor with vi or open.
VI(1)