vim

Vim

Load/exit/save

• Exit: :q
  • If there are changes you want to discard - exit without saving: :q!
• Save: :w
  • Exit and save: :wq
• Reload: :e / :edit (reloads the current file)
  • :e!: discard current changes and reload

Navigation

• Jump in line to
  • beginning: ^
  • end: $
• Alternative to arrow keys ("vim"-way to navigate because you don't have to move your hand)
  • h: ←
  • j: ↓
  • k: ↑
  • l: →
• Move to word:
  • next: w (W after the whitespace) or Shift + <arrow key>
  • previous: b (B before the whitespace)
• Move screen 1/2 page
  • up: Ctrl/Control + u
  • down: Ctrl/Control + d
• Move to beginning of file: :0
• Move to end of file: :$

INSERT mode

Enter INSERT mode with:

• At current position of the cursor: i
• After the current position of the cursor: a

Exit: ESC

General purpose commands

• Repeat last command: .
• Delete character (in normal mode): x
• Convert tabs to spaces: :retab (note that the .vimrc option expandtab does not apply for existing tabs)

Line numbers:

• Absolute numbers: :set number (or: :set nu)
• Relative numbers: :set relativenumber (or :set rnu)
• Hybrid mode (relative and current line is absolute): :set number relativenumber (or: :set nu rnu)
• Disable with :set nonu nornu or :set nonumber norelativenumber (absolut + relative = hybrid)

Undo/Redo

• List changes: :undolist
• Undo: u
  • Undo last n changes: 2u (undo last 2 changes)
• Redo: Ctrl + r (on Mac use control instead of Ctrl)

For more commands see: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/vim-undo/

Line operations (cut/copy/paste)

• Cut line: dd
• Cut n lines: ndd (3dd to delete 3 lines)
• Cut until
  • beginning of line: d^
  • end of line: d$
• Yank/copy line: yy
• All mentioned earlier for cut works for yank as well
• Paste: p (after current position/line); P (before current position/line)
  • Paste, writes the buffers from cut or yank

Character/word manipulation

• Cut word under cursor: diw (delete in word)
• Yank word under cursor: yiw (yank in word)

Indentation

• Indent current line: >>
• Unindent current line: <<
• Indent multiple lines: 5>> (indents 5 lines by one level)

Visual block mode

Enter VISUAL BLOCK mode by hitting: Ctrl/Control + v

Multi-line edit

1. Place cursor
2. Enter visual mode
3. Navigate to select multiple lines/characters/... (via hjkl or <arrow_keys>)
4. Press I to get into INSERT mode (note i will not work)
   • Alternatively use other commands like deletion (e.g. 4d, ...)
5. Add the text you want to insert (you'll see it only for the first line)
6. <ESC> to finish (only now you'll see the changes on all lines)

Vim registers

Vim works with registers storing (temporarily) information for text processing automatically or by user interaction.

• View currently assigned registers and their content: :reg
• Pasting from a register is as simple as "0p (in command mode)
  • You will only see the paste after hitting p (no leading :)

Register cmd	Description
""	Unnamed reg; default for yank, delete, ... (d, D, x, X, c, C, s, S)
"0	Default reg: default for yank
"1	Slot 1 in register stack (will get the value of "0 after next yank, ...)
...	...
"9	Slot 9 (last slot)
"a	Named register a (possible values a-z)
"_	Black hole register ()
".	Last inserted text
":	Last exec command
"%	Name of current file
"/	Last search text
"*	Current clipboard content

Notes:

• For a yank "" and "0 have the same content
• p will paste from the default register ("")
• Registers persists session-wide
• Delete a line without adding it to a register: "_dd
• Clearing a register: :let @a=@_ (assign the black whole register (_) to register a)
• Put (store) to register "4yy (yank line to register 4)
• Append to register (only a-z): Use capital letters (A-Z)

Search & Substitution

Search

• Fwd: /keyword

• Bckw: ?keyword

• Repeat (same direction): n

• Repeat (opposite direction): N

• Stop text highlighting from search: :noh

Substitution

• Search/replace globally in file (-> *): :%s/searchPattern/replacePattern/g

~/.vimrc

Useful options:

" Activate syntax highlighting
syntax on
" Set relative/absolute line numbers (here: hybrid mode = both)
set number relativenumber
" Disable with in vim session via `:set nonu nornu` or `:set nonumber norelativenumber`

" Set tab widths
set tabstop=4     " (ts) width (in spaces) that a <tab> is displayed as
set shiftwidth=4  " (sw) width (in spaces) used in each step of autoindent (aswell as << and >>)
" Replace tabs with spaces and set tab width
set expandtab     " (et) expand tabs to spaces (use :retab to redo entire file)

""" File specific indendation settings
" for yml files, 2 spaces
autocmd Filetype yml setlocal ts=2 sw=2 expandtab
autocmd Filetype yaml setlocal ts=2 sw=2 expandtab
" ts = number of spaces for tab
" sts = number of spaces for tab while editing
" sw = number of spaces for auto-indent
" -> https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/quickref.html#option-list

" Compensate for typo `:Wq` instead of `:wq` ans silently do the right thing (-> save and exit)
cnoreabbrev <expr> Wq ((getcmdtype() is# ':' && getcmdline() is# 'W' && getcmdline() is# q)?('Wq'):('wq'))

Further resources

• Good NeoVim doc