Vi IMproved cheatsheet

Vi IMproved

Basic control and conventions

Key combination – several keys pressed together, e.g. Ctrl+A_E means Ctrl+Shift+a_E.
Key sequence – several keys or combinations pressed gradually, e.g.. Ctrl+ww_E means a press of combination Ctrl+w and than a key w.
Working mode – it is displayed bottom right:

■ C – basic command mode, Esc_E,
■ E – insert mode Ins_C, i_C,
■ V – visual, used for highlighting of text blocks v_C/V_C,
■ ex – command line ex-mode :_C.

Repeat command with typing number n× of repetitions before command, e.g. 5x_C deletes 5 chars from cursor position. Option set showcmd shows command sequence in bottom right.
Help: help topic, use Tab for command completion.
Similar commands uses same keys, e.g. f_C / F_C, t_C / T_C (see below). The difference is direction or range of operation.
Repeat last: command ._C, macro @@_C
Undo: u_C ≈ undo, redo Ctrl+r_C / redo
Set or unset options with set option a set nooption. Alone set displays current options.
Shortening of options: set ignorecase ≈ se ic
Line addressing of ex-commands:

xcommand execute on line x
x,ycommand from x to line y
.,$command from actual position to the end
%command ≈ 1,\$command for whole file
.,+xcomm ≈ xcomm from cursor to next x lines
.,$–x from current position to x. line from the end
/pattern₁/,/pattern₂/ from the first occurrence of line with pattern₁ to the first pattern₂

More ex-commands together: command₁ | command₂
Comparison of two files: vimdiff file₁ file₂

Edit and save

Edit: edit file
Open new empty file: enew
Insert file to current position: read file
Insert output of system command: read !command
Save/append file: write file / w >> file
Save/append lines n to m: n,mw file / n,mw>> file
Save and quit: wq, enforced wq!
Quit without save: q! ≈ ZQ_C
Quit and save when file was changed: x ≈ ZZ_C
Go to file under the cursos: gf_C
Change name of current file: f jméno
Insert before/after: char i_C / a_C, line I_C / A_C
Insert new line above/below cursor: O_C / o_C
Rewrite: char r_C, word cw_C, line cc_C, text R_C ≈ InsIns_C
Delete char/line and continue edit:s_C / S_C

Moving throught file

Open file on 23^rd line: vim file +23
Cursor: →_C ≈ l_C, ←_C ≈ h_C, ↑_C ≈ k_C, ↓_C ≈ j_C
Paging: Ctrl+f_C ≈ PageUp_E / Ctrl+b_C ≈ PageDown_E
Half-paging up/down: Ctrl+u_C / Ctrl+d_C
Jump to n^th line: n ≈ nG_C , the last $ ≈ G_C
Jump to percentual line position: n%_C
Display current line number: Ctrl+g_C, set number
Display number of lines: =
Jump to byte position: goto n
Jump in line before char a forward/backward: ta_C / Ta_C
Jump in line to char a forward/backward: fa_C / Fa_C
Repeat last line search forward/backward: ;_C / ,_C
Go to beggining of next/previous word: w_C / b_C
Go to end of a word: e_C, with interpunction E_C
Go to declaration: gd_C
Go to begin/end of paragraph: {_C / }_C, block: [{_C / ]}_C
Go to begin/end of line: Home_C ≈ ^_C / End_C ≈ $_C
Go to next/previous sentence: )_C / (_C
Go to next/previous line: End_C ≈ +_C / -_C
Go to column: first 0_C ≈ |_C; n^th n|_C
Jump to pair bracket: %_C
Print position, number of lines and chars, etc.: gCtrl+g_C

Marking of position

Insert invisible mark a: ma_C
Jump to mark a: 'a_C
Print marks: marks
Erase mark a: delmarks a
Process text from mark a to b: 'a,'b příkaz, e.g. 'a,'b !sort will use external command for sort

Deleting, moving and copying of text

Deletion automaticly stores text in register (for moving)
Delete: char x_C ≈ Del_C; previous char X_C ≈ d←_C ≈ dh_C, Ctrl+h_E ≈ BackSpace_E; word dw_C ≈ Ctrl+w_E; line dd_C
Delete up to pair bracket: d%_C
Delete to end/beginning of sentence: d)_C / d(_C
Delete the rest of line/file: D_C ≈ d$_C / dG_C
Delete from cursor position to beginning: d0_C ≈ d^_C
Join lines: J_C add space, gJ_C without space
Copy to register: line Y_C ≈ yy_C, word yw_C
Copy to the beginning/end of line: y0_C / y$_C
More registers: press "k…_C before command will save text to register k. E.g. "kyy_C copies line into k
Paste content of last used register or last deleted text: after p_C, before P_C cursor, "kpp_C pastes register k
Special register: "% – current file name, "/ – last search,…
Show content of registers: register a
Swaps the next two chars/lines: xp_C / ddp_C
ex-mode: delete d, move m, copy co ≈ t
10,20m0 – move lines 10–20 to the beginning (0)
.,+5d a – delete next 5 lines and store them to reg. a

Formatting

Set text width: set textwidth=n
Switch on line wrap: set wrap
Justify: center, right, left
Format line: gqq_C
Format paragraph: gqap_C jump to end, gwap_C
Reverse case of char: ~_C, line g~~_C
Line to upper/lower: gUU_C / Vu_C ≈ guu_C / VU_C
Whole file to upper/lower case: gggUG_C / ggguG_C
While line/file ROT13 encoding: g??_C / ggg?G_C

Indentation

Shift line: >>_C, Ctrl+t_E of set shiftwidth=n
Shift line leftwards: <<_C, Ctrl+d_E
Tabbing: Tab_E ≈ Ctrl+i_E
Shift line same as before: ==_C
Indent block relatively: =a{ _C
Refresh indentation of whole file: gg=G_C

Complementation

Complement word before/after cursor: Ctrl+p_E / Ctrl+n_E
Name of file in working directory: Ctrl+x Ctrl+f_E
Name of directory: Ctrl+x Ctrl+d_E
Whole line: Ctrl+x Ctrl+l_E
Word from dictionary: Ctrl+x Ctrl+k_E
System command (reads $PATH): Ctrl+x Ctrl+v_E
Increase/decrease number under cursor: Ctrl+a_C / Ctrl+x_C
Name of current file: Ctrl+r%_E

Completition at ex-command line

Insert content of register a: Ctrl+ra
Insert word under the cursor: Ctrl+r Ctrl+a
Cancel command: Ctrl+u

Insert special sumbols

Display unprintable characters: set list
Insert ASCII char: Ctrl+v code End_E
Show ASCII/UTF-8 of char under cursor: ga_C / g8_C
Suppress control character, e.g. Tab (^I): Ctrl+v Tab_E
Table of Unicode digraphs: digraphs
Insert digraphs:Ctrl+k K₁ K₂_E
Digraphs: ± +- ° DG × *X ÷ -: – -N — -M „ :9 “ :6
Define digraphs .3 for „…“ (U+2026): dig .3 8230

Search and replace

Ignore case: set ignorecase, opposite set noic
Search forward/backward: /pattern_C / ?pattern_C
Repeat last search: /_C / ?_C
Ignore case: /\cpattern_C
Jump to next searched place: n_C forward, N_C backward
Search for word under the cursor: #_C forward, *_C backward
Search by ASCII code of „M“: %d77, %x4d, %o0115
Search Unicode character „α“ (U+03B1): %u03b1
Substitution: substitute/from/to/flag, abbr. s
Repeat last substitution: s ≈ s//~/
The delimiter / can be any char instead \, " and |
Flags: c – confirmation, g – for whole line, p – print, without flag changes only first occurence
Cancel highlight: nohlsearch
Search in more files:vimgrep /pattern/g f₁ f₂ … f_n
Execute command on line with: global/pattern/command
Execute where pattern not match: g!/pattern/command

Regular expressions

Begin/end of: line ^ / $, word \< / \>, file %^ / %$
Last searched pattern/substitution: & / ~
Matches any character: . (dot)
Or/and: | / \&
Suppress next special symbol: \., \&, $, \^, \\, \*
Atom: $pattern$
N^th reference: \N, first $pattern$ = \1
Ranges: [abcd] ≈ [a-d], [a-zA-Z] ≈ \a, [0-9] ≈ \d
Ignored chars and ranges: [^abcd] ≈ [^a-d]
Zero or multiple z: z* ≈ z\{0,\}
One or multiple z: z\+ ≈ z\{1,\}
One or zero times: z\? ≈ z\{0,1\}
Repetition z: z\{n\} accurate n×, z\{n,\} minimal n×, z\{n,m\} min. n and max. m times

Folding of text blocks (help folding)

Fold text: zf_C, selected zf_V
Jump to beginning/end of fold: [z_C / ]z_C
Open fold under the cursor: zo_C, recursively zO_C
Open/close all: zR_C / zM_C
Switch fold-unfold: za_C, recursively zA_C
Highlight folded parts: set foldcolumn=5

Edit more files, windows and tabs

More files (edit buffers)

Start vim: vim file₁ file₂…
Display buffers: ls ≈ files (numbered)
Switch to next/previous file: next / prev
Switch to first/last file:rewind ≈ first / last
Perform mass command for all files:bufdo command

Windows

New window: new ≈ Ctrl+wn_C
Split window: split ≈ Ctrl+ws_C
Vertically split window: vsplit ≈ Ctrl+wv_C
Close window: close ≈ Ctrl+wc_C
Close all except current: only ≈ Ctrl+wo_C
Jump to next window: Ctrl+ww_C
Shrink/large window by n lines: Ctrl+wn-_C / Ctrl+wn+_C
Shrink/large window by n columns: Ctrl+wn<_C / Ctrl+wn>_C
Same size for all windows: Ctrl+w=_C
Mass: write wall, quit qall, wqall
Perform mass command for all windows: windo command
Open name under cursor in new window: Ctrl+wf_C

Moving in window

Jump to window line: top H_C, middle M_C, last L_C
Jump to n^th line from top/bottom: nH_C/nL_C
Set actual line to: top zEnd_C, center z._C, bottom z-_C
Scroll window up/down by: line Ctrl+e_C / Ctrl+y_C, page Ctrl+b_C / Ctrl+f_C, half-page Ctrl+u_C / Ctrl+d_C
Redraw window without scrolling: Ctrl+l_C

Tabs

Command: vim -p f₁, f₂ … open files in tabs
Create/close tab: tabnew / tabc
Close all, except current tab: tabo
Go to next/previous: tabn ≈ Ctrl+PageDown_E / tabp ≈ Ctrl+PageUp_E
Move after the fold n: tabm n
Perform mass command: tabdo command
Change tab design: set tabline
Open name of file under cursor in new tab: Ctrl+wgf_C

Visual mode

Select: chars v_C, lines V_C, cursor sets range
Block text selection: Ctrl+V_C
Change to upper/lower case: U_V / u_V
Select: word aw_V, ()/{} block ab_V / aB_V, no brackets ib_V / iB_V; XML block with marks at_V, inside marks it_V
Perform command in selected range: '<,'> command

Abbreviations, key maps and macros

Define abbreviation: abreviate abbr full expansion
Abbreviations for insert/ex-mode: iabbrev / cabbrev
List/delete abbreviations: ab / unab abbreviation
Map key x: map x commands
Map by mode: map imap cmap nmap vmap
Map key for insert mode: map! x commands
List key mapping: map/map!
Delete mapping: unmap x/unmap! x
Write macro to register a: qa_C
End macro definition: q_C
Perform macro in register a: @a_C
Repeat last called macro: @@_C
Execute macro a as ex-command: @a

Spell checking

Switch on spelling: set spell spelllang=cs,en
Search next/previous mistype: ]s_C / [s_C
Add to dictionary a word under cursor: zg_C
Add temporary to dictionary: zG_C
Set word as bad: zw_C, temporary zW_C
Suggest correctly spelled words: z=_C
Always take the first suggestion: 1z=_C

Programmer support

Run make: make
Jump to next/previous error: cprevious / cnext
List all errors: clist
Add window with list of errors: copen

Other

Start shell: shell
Open manpage of command under cursor: K_C
Open file under the cursor: gf_C
Save as color HTML: runtime! syntax/2html.vim
Wildcard of current file %, e.g. !context % process current file with ConTeXt