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vim - A Powerful Text Editor

Summary

vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing. It is an improved version of the vi editor distributed with most UNIX systems. It's known for its modal editing and powerful command-line interface.

Introduction

vim (Vi IMproved) is a powerful, terminal-based text editor. It is a descendant of the original vi editor, but with many enhancements. vim operates in different modes, primarily normal mode (for commands), insert mode (for typing text), and visual mode (for selecting text). Mastering vim can significantly increase your efficiency in text editing, especially for coding and system administration tasks.

Use case and Examples

Opening a File

vim myfile.txt
This command opens the file named myfile.txt in vim. If the file doesn't exist, vim will create it when you save.

Creating a New File

vim newfile.txt
Similar to opening an existing file, this command opens a new file named newfile.txt.

Opening a File in Read-Only Mode

vim -R myfile.txt
This command opens the file myfile.txt in read-only mode, preventing accidental modifications.

Opening a File at a Specific Line

vim +10 myfile.txt
This command opens the file myfile.txt and positions the cursor at line 10.

Opening a File at the Last Line

vim +$ myfile.txt
This command opens the file myfile.txt and positions the cursor at the last line.

Searching for a Pattern upon Opening

vim +/pattern myfile.txt
This command opens the file myfile.txt and positions the cursor at the first occurrence of "pattern" within the file.

Using Vim as Diff Viewer

vim -d file1.txt file2.txt
This command opens vim in diff mode, highlighting the differences between file1.txt and file2.txt.

Commonly used flags

Flag Description Example
-R Open the file in read-only mode. vim -R myfile.txt
+<line_number> Open the file and position the cursor at the specified line number. vim +25 myfile.txt
+/pattern Open the file and position the cursor at the first occurrence of the specified pattern. vim +/searchterm myfile.txt
-d Open vim in diff mode to compare two files. vim -d file1.txt file2.txt
-o Open multiple files in horizontal split windows. vim -o file1.txt file2.txt
-O Open multiple files in vertical split windows. vim -O file1.txt file2.txt
-p Open multiple files in tabs. vim -p file1.txt file2.txt


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