NAME

vi − screen oriented (visual) display editor based on ex

SYNTAX

vi [ −r ] [ +command ] [ −t tag ] [ −wn ] −l ] name... 

DESCRIPTION

The vi command provides a display-oriented, visual text editor based on ex(1).  The ex and vi editors run the same code; it is possible to get to the command mode of ex from within vi and vice-versa. 

−t Edits the file containing the tag and positioning the editor at its definition. 

−r Recovers after an editor or system crash.  It recovers by retrieving the last saved version of the named file.  If no file is specified, it displays a list of saved files. 

−l Sets up for LISP.  That is, it sets the showmatch and lisp options. 

−w Sets the window size to n. 

For full details on using vi, see “Introduction to Display Editing with Vi” in the ULTRIX-11 Supplementary Documents, Volume 1. 

RESTRICTIONS

Software tabs using ^T work only immediately after the autoindent. 

Left and right shifts on intelligent terminals do not make use of insert and delete character operations in the terminal. 

Since it looks at output columns, the wrapmargin option can encounter errors 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. 

Insert/delete within a line can be slow if tabs are present on intelligent terminals, since the terminals need help in doing this correctly. 

Saving text on deletes in the named buffers is somewhat inefficient. 

The source command does not work when executed as :source; there is no way to use the :append, :change, and :insert commands, 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. 

SEE ALSO

ex(1)
“An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi”