Useful Vim Commands for SAS Administrators on UNIX
After a successful installation of SAS Enterprise BI Server on my Sun Servers, a certain amount of time is spent modifying configuration files and backup scripts, as well as browsing log files. I use the vi editor to accomplish the editing. I used used vi a lot back when all of my GIS work was performed in the UNIX environment, but once the Intel hardware matured and the GIS tools because available on Windows, I thought I would be able to forget all about the UNIX command line. Wrong. I’m back there again, but now I’m armed with a cheat sheet:
Working with files
| Vim command | Action |
| vi filename | Opens a file with the Vim editor. |
| :w filename |
Save changes to a file. If you don’t specify a file name, Vim saves as the file name you were editing. For saving the file under a different name, specify the file name. |
| :q |
Quit Vim. If you have unsaved changes, Vim refuses to exit. |
| :q! |
Exit Vim without saving changes. |
| :wq |
Write the file and exit. |
Moving around in the file
| Vim command | Action |
| j or Up Arrow |
Move the cursor up one line. |
| k or Down Arrow |
Down one line. |
| h or Left Arrow |
Left one character. |
| l or Right Arrow |
Right one character. |
| 0 | To the beginning of a line. |
| $ |
To the end of a line. |
| :n | Jump to line number n. |
Inserting and overwriting text
| Vim command | Action |
| i | Insert before cursor. |
| o | Open a new line below and insert. |
| O | Open a new line above and insert. |
| C | Change the rest of the current line. |
| r | Overwrite one character. After overwriting the single character, go back to command mode. |
| R | Enter insert mode but replace characters rather than inserting. |
| The ESC key | Exit insert/overwrite mode and go back to command mode. |
Deleting text
| Vim command | Action |
| x | Delete characters under the cursor. |
| X | Delete characters before the cursor. |
| dd or :d | Delete the current line. |
Undo and redo
| Vim command | Action |
| u | Undo the last action. |
| U | Undo all the latest changes that were made to the current line. |
| Ctrl + r | Redo. |
There are obviously many more Vim commands out there. Typically if I find myself in a situation where extensive modifications need to be made with a text editor, I will use Crimson Editor on Windows.
The list of commands above are a subset of The Vim commands cheat sheet – 1.2.
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