How Many Lessons Does Vimtutor Have?

How Many Lessons Does Vimtutor Have?§

Vim is a very powerful editor that has many commands, too many to explain in a tutor such as this. This tutor is designed to describe enough of the commands that you will be able to easily use Vim as an all-purpose editor.

The approximate time required to complete the tutor is 25-30 minutes, depending upon how much time is spent with experimentation.

The commands in the lessons will modify the text. Make a copy of this file to practice on (if you started "vimtutor" this is already a copy).

It is important to remember that this tutor is set up to teach by use. That means that you need to execute the commands to learn them properly. If you only read the text, you will forget the commands!

Now, make sure that your Shift-Lock key is NOT depressed and press the j key enough times to move the cursor so that Lesson 1.1 completely fills the screen.

Lesson 1.1: MOVING THE CURSOR

To move the cursor, press the h,j,k,l keys as indicated.

Hint:

  • The h key is at the left and moves left.
  • The l key is at the right and moves right.
  • The j key looks like a down arrow
  1. Move the cursor around the screen until you are comfortable.

  2. Hold down the down key j until it repeats.

---> Now you know how to move to the next lesson.

  1. Using the down key, move to Lesson 1.2.

Note: If you are ever unsure about something you typed, press <ESC> to place you in Normal mode. Then retype the command you wanted.

Note: The cursor keys should also work. But using hjkl you will be able to move around much faster, once you get used to it.

Lesson 1.2: ENTERING AND EXITING VIM

!! NOTE: Before executing any of the steps below, read this entire lesson!!

  1. Press the <ESC> key (to make sure you are in Normal mode).

  2. Type: :q! <ENTER>.

---> This exits the editor WITHOUT saving any changes you have made. If you want to save the changes and exit type: :wq <ENTER>

  1. When you see the shell prompt, type the command that got you into this tutor. That could be: vimtutor <ENTER> Normally you would use: vim tutor <ENTER>

---> 'vim' means enter the vim editor, 'tutor' is the file you wish to edit.

  1. If you have these steps memorized and are confident, execute steps 1 through 3 to exit and re-enter the editor. Then move the cursor down to Lesson 1.3.

Lesson 1.3: TEXT EDITING - DELETION

While in Normal mode press x to delete the character under the cursor.

  1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

  2. To fix the errors, move the cursor until it is on top of the character to be deleted.

  3. Press the x key to delete the unwanted character.

  4. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until the sentence is correct.

---> The ccow jumpedd ovverr thhe mooon.

  1. Now that the line is correct, go on to Lesson 1.4.

NOTE: As you go through this tutor, do not try to memorize, learn by usage.

Lesson 1.4: TEXT EDITING - INSERTION

While in Normal mode press i to insert text.

  1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

  2. To make the first line the same as the second, move the cursor on top of the first character AFTER where the text is to be inserted.

  3. Press i and type in the necessary additions.

  4. As each error is fixed press <ESC> to return to Normal mode. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to correct the sentence.

---> There is text misng this . ---> There is some text missing from this line.

  1. When you are comfortable inserting text move to the summary below.

Lesson 2.1: DELETION COMMANDS

Type dw to delete to the end of a word.

  1. Press <ESC> to make sure you are in Normal mode.

  2. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

  3. Move the cursor to the beginning of a word that needs to be deleted.

  4. Type dw to make the word disappear.

NOTE: The letters dw will appear on the last line of the screen as you type them. If you typed something wrong, press <ESC> and start over.

---> There are some words fun that don't belong paper in this sentence.

  1. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the sentence is correct and go to Lesson 2.2.

Lesson 2.2: MORE DELETION COMMANDS

Type d$ to delete to the end of the line.

  1. Press <ESC> to make sure you are in Normal mode.

  2. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

  3. Move the cursor to the end of the correct line (AFTER the first . ).

  4. Type d$ to delete to the end of the line.

---> Somebody typed the end of this line twice. end of this line twice.

  1. Move on to Lesson 2.3 to understand what is happening.

Lesson 2.3: ON COMMANDS AND OBJECTS

The format for the d delete command is as follows:

[number] d object OR d [number] object

Where:

number -is how many times to execute the command (optional, default=1). d -is the command to delete. object -is what the command will operate on (listed below).

A shortlist of objects:

w - from the cursor to the end of the word, including the space. e - from the cursor to the end of the word, NOT including the space. $ - from the cursor to the end of the line.

NOTE: For the adventurous, pressing just the object while in Normal mode without a command will move the cursor as specified in the object list.

Lesson 2.4: AN EXCEPTION TO ‘COMMAND-OBJECT'

Type dd to delete a whole line.

Due to the frequency of whole line deletion, the designers of Vim decided it would be easier to simply type two d's in a row to delete a line.

  1. Move the cursor to the second line in the phrase below.

  2. Type dd to delete the line.

  3. Now move to the fourth line.

  4. Type 2dd (remember number-command-object) to delete the two lines.

    1. Roses are red,
    2. Mud is fun,
    3. Violets are blue,
    4. I have a car,
    5. Clocks tell time,
    6. Sugar is sweet
    7. And so are you.

Lesson 2.5: THE UNDO COMMAND

Press u to undo the last commands, U to fix a whole line.

  1. Move the cursor to the line below marked ---> and place it on the first error.
  2. Type x to delete the first unwanted character.
  3. Now type u to undo the last command executed.
  4. This time fix all the errors on the line using the x command.
  5. Now type a capital U to return the line to its original state.
  6. Now type u a few times to undo the U and preceding commands.
  7. Now type CTRL-R (keeping CTRL key pressed while hitting R) a few times to redo the commands (undo the undo's).

---> Fiix the errors oon thhis line and reeplace them witth undo.

  1. These are very useful commands. Now move on to the Lesson 2 Summary.

Lesson 3.1: THE PUT COMMAND

Type p to put the last deletion after the cursor.

  1. Move the cursor to the first line in the set below.

  2. Type dd to delete the line and store it in Vim's buffer.

  3. Move the cursor to the line ABOVE where the deleted line should go.

  4. While in Normal mode, type p to replace the line.

  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to put all the lines in correct order.

    d) Can you learn too? b) Violets are blue, c) Intelligence is learned, a) Roses are red,

Lesson 3.2: THE REPLACE COMMAND

Type r and a character to replace the character under the cursor.

  1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

  2. Move the cursor so that it is on top of the first error.

  3. Type r and then the character which should replace the error.

  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the first line is correct.

---> Whan this lime was tuoed in, someone presswd some wrojg keys! ---> When this line was typed in, someone pressed some wrong keys!

  1. Now move on to Lesson 3.2.

NOTE: Remember that you should be learning by use, not memorization.

Lesson 3.3: THE CHANGE COMMAND

To change part or all of a word, type cw

  1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

  2. Place the cursor on the u in lubw.

  3. Type cw and the correct word (in this case, type 'ine'.)

  4. Press <ESC> and move to the next error (the first character to be changed.)

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the first sentence is the same as the second.

---> This lubw has a few wptfd that mrrf changing usf the change command. ---> This line has a few words that need changing using the change command.

Notice that cw not only replaces the word, but also places you in insert.

Lesson 3.4: MORE CHANGES USING c

The change command is used with the same objects as delete.

  1. The change command works in the same way as delete.

The format is:

[number] c object OR c [number] object

  1. The objects are also the same, such as w (word), $ (end of line), etc.

  2. Move to the first line below marked --->.

  3. Move the cursor to the first error.

  4. Type c$ to make the rest of the line like the second and press <ESC>.

---> The end of this line needs some help to make it like the second. ---> The end of this line needs to be corrected using the c$ command.

Lesson 4.1: LOCATION AND FILE STATUS

Type CTRL-g to show your location in the file and the file status. Type SHIFT-G to move to a line in the file.

Note: Read this entire lesson before executing any of the steps!!

  1. Hold down the Ctrl key and press g . A status line will appear at the bottom of the page with the filename and the line you are on. Remember the line number for Step 3.

  2. Press shift-G to move you to the bottom of the file.

  3. Type in the number of the line you were on and then shift-G. This will return you to the line you were on when you first pressed Ctrl-g. (When you type in the numbers, they will NOT be displayed on the screen.)

  4. If you feel confident to do this, execute steps 1 through 3.

Lesson 4.2: THE SEARCH COMMAND

Type / followed by a phrase to search for the phrase.

  1. In Normal mode type the / character. Notice that it and the cursor appear at the bottom of the screen as with the : command.

  2. Now type 'errroor' <ENTER>. This is the word you want to search for.

  3. To search for the same phrase again, simply type n . To search for the same phrase in the opposite direction, type Shift-N .

  4. If you want to search for a phrase in the backward direction, use the command ? instead of /.

---> When the search reaches the end of the file it will continue at the start.

"errroor" is not the way to spell error; errroor is an error.

Lesson 4.3: MATCHING PARENTHESES SEARCH

Type % to find a matching ),], or }

  1. Place the cursor on any (, [, or { in the line below marked --->.

  2. Now type the % character.

  3. The cursor should be on the matching parenthesis or bracket.

  4. Type % to move the cursor back to the first bracket (by matching).

---> This ( is a test line with ('s, ['s ] and {'s } in it. ))

Note: This is very useful in debugging a program with unmatched parentheses!

Lesson 4.4: A WAY TO CHANGE ERRORS

Type :s/old/new/g to substitute 'new' for 'old'.

  1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

  2. Type :s/thee/the <ENTER> . Note that this command only changes the first occurrence on the line.

  3. Now type :s/thee/the/g meaning substitute globally on the line. This changes all occurrences on the line.

---> thee best time to see thee flowers is in thee spring.

  1. To change every occurrence of a character string between two lines, type :#,#s/old/new/g where #,# are the numbers of the two lines. Type :%s/old/new/g to change every occurrence in the whole file.

Lesson 5.1: HOW TO EXECUTE AN EXTERNAL COMMAND

Type :! followed by an external command to execute that command.

  1. Type the familiar command : to set the cursor at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to enter a command.

  2. Now type the ! (exclamation point) character. This allows you to execute any external shell command.

  3. As an example type ls following the ! and then hit <ENTER>. This will show you a listing of your directory, just as if you were at the shell prompt. Or use :!dir if ls doesn't work.

---> Note: It is possible to execute any external command this way.

---> Note: All : commands must be finished by hitting <ENTER>

Lesson 5.2: MORE ON WRITING FILES

To save the changes made to the file, type :w FILENAME.

  1. Type :!dir or :!ls to get a listing of your directory. You already know you must hit <ENTER> after this.

  2. Choose a filename that does not exist yet, such as TEST.

  3. Now type: :w TEST (where TEST is the filename you chose.)

  4. This saves the whole file (Vim Tutor) under the name TEST. To verify this, type :!dir again to see your directory

---> Note that if you were to exit Vim and enter again with the filename TEST, the file would be an exact copy of the tutor when you saved it.

  1. Now remove the file by typing (MS-DOS): :!del TEST

Lesson 5.3: A SELECTIVE WRITE COMMAND

To save part of the file, type :#,# w FILENAME

  1. Once again, type :!dir or :!ls to obtain a listing of your directory and choose a suitable filename such as TEST.

  2. Move the cursor to the top of this page and type Ctrl-g to find the number of that line. REMEMBER THIS NUMBER!

  3. Now move to the bottom of the page and type Ctrl-g again. REMEMBER THIS LINE NUMBER ALSO!

  4. To save ONLY a section to a file, type :#,# w TEST where #,# are the two numbers you remembered (top,bottom) and TEST is your filename.

  5. Again, see that the file is there with :!dir but DO NOT remove it.

Lesson 5.4: RETRIEVING AND MERGING FILES

To insert the contents of a file, type :r FILENAME

  1. Type :!dir to make sure your TEST filename is present from before.

  2. Place the cursor at the top of this page.

NOTE: After executing Step 3 you will see Lesson 5.3. Then move DOWN to this lesson again.

  1. Now retrieve your TEST file using the command :r TEST where TEST is the name of the file.

NOTE: The file you retrieve is placed starting where the cursor is located.

  1. To verify that a file was retrieved, cursor back and notice that there are now two copies of Lesson 5.3, the original and the file version.

Lesson 6.1: THE OPEN COMMAND

Type o to open a line below the cursor and place you in Insert mode

  1. Move the cursor to the line below marked --->.

  2. Type o (lowercase) to open up a line BELOW the cursor and place you in Insert mode.

  3. Now copy the line marked ---> and press <ESC> to exit Insert mode.

---> After typing o the cursor is placed on the open line in Insert mode.

  1. To open up a line ABOVE the cursor, simply type a capital O , rather than a lowercase o. Try this on the line below.

Open up a line above this by typing Shift-O while the cursor is on this line.

Lesson 6.2: THE APPEND COMMAND

Type a to insert text AFTER the cursor.

  1. Move the cursor to the end of the first line below marked ---> by typing $ in Normal mode.

  2. Type a (lowercase) to append text AFTER the character under the cursor. (Uppercase A appends to the end of the line.)

Note: This avoids typing i , the last character, the text to insert, <ESC>, cursor-right, and finally, x , just to append to the end of a line!

  1. Now complete the first line. Note also that append is the same as Insert mode, except for the location where text is inserted.

---> This line will allow you to practice ---> This line will allow you to practice appending text to the end of a line.

Lesson 6.3: ANOTHER VERSION OF REPLACE

Type a capital R to replace more than one character

  1. Move the cursor to the first line below marked --->.

  2. Place the cursor at the beginning of the first word that is different from the second line marked ---> (the word 'last').

  3. Now type R and replace the remainder of the text on the first line by typing over the old text to make the first line the same as the second.

---> To make the first line the same as the last on this page use the keys. ---> To make the first line the same as the second, type R and the new text.

  1. Note that when you press <ESC> to exit, any unaltered text remains.

Lesson 6.4: SET OPTION*

Set an option so a search or substitute ignores case

  1. Search for 'ignore' by entering: /ignore Repeat several times by hitting the n key

  2. Set the ic (Ignore case) option by typing: :set ic

  3. Now search for 'ignore' again by entering: n Repeat search several more times by hitting the n key

  4. Set the 'hlsearch' and 'incsearch' options: :set hls is

  5. Now enter the search command again, and see what happens: /ignore

LESSON 7: ON-LINE HELP COMMANDS

Use the on-line help system

Vim has a comprehensive on-line help system.

To get started, try one of these three: - press the <HELP> key (if you have one) - press the <F1> key (if you have one) - type :help <ENTER>

Type :q <ENTER> to close the help window.

You can find help on just about any subject, by giving an argument to the ":help" command.

Try these (don't forget pressing <ENTER>):

:help w :help c_<T :help insert-index :help user-manual