Unix Third Edition: Visual Quickstart Guide

Adding and Deleting Text in vi

Adding and deleting text in vi is a bit more complicated than doing the same in pico. Whereas in pico, you basically just place your cursor where you want to make changes, vi has a whole slew of commands that you use to specify where the changes should occur. (Tables 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 list only a very few of your options.) Plus, to issue the commands, you have to switch to command mode.

Table 4.1. vi Commands to Add Text

COMMAND	FUNCTION
a	Adds text after the cursor
A	Adds text at the end of the current line
i	Inserts text before the cursor
I	Inserts text at the beginning of the current line
o	Inserts a blank line after the current line
O	Inserts a blank line before the current line

Table 4.2. vi Commands to Delete Text

COMMAND ...