Linux, Inside vi - Changing command insert mode

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Inside vi - Changing from command to insert mode - saving your file

With some editors all you need to do to enter insert mode is to start typing. With the vi editor you must enter the i (insert) command or the a (append) command. The difference in the commands is that a inserts text to the right of the cursor, while i inserts to the left of the cursor.

Since we are editing a new file in our example, we can press either i or a to get into insert mode, then just start entering text.

Entering text in insert mode

We are in insert mode now, so I can type in some text.

See the INSERT mode indication at the bottom of the screen.

~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
-- INSERT --

Once we have completed entering text, we press the escape (esc) key to enter command mode again.

There are variations of insert; for instance A appends text entered to the end of the current line, while I inserts at the beginning of the current line. A lower case o inserts text on a new line below the current cursor line, while an upper case O inserts text on a new line above the current cursor line.

Insert commands

Command
Action

a
Append text to the right of the cursor

i
Insert text to the left of the cursor

o
Insert a new line below the current line

A
Append text to the end of the current line

I
Insert text at the beginning of the current line

O
Insert a new line above the current line

Saving your file

Now that we’ve entered some text, we should save our work. After pressing the escape key to enter command mode we type :w to write the file to disk. If we would like to write the file and quit vi, we would enter :wq instead. Using just the :w command leaves you in vi to do further editing, while using :wq writes the file to disk and exits to the operating system prompt. One other option is to write the file to a new file name using “:w! newfilename” or <shift> z:

Write (save) commands

Command
Action

:w
Write the file to disk

:wq
Write the file to disk and quit the editor

:w! newfile
Write the file to a new disk file called newfile

The above book excerpt is from:

Easy Linux Commands
Working Examples of Linux Command Syntax

ISBN: 0-9759135-0-6

Terry Clark

http://www.rampant-books.com/book_2005_1_linux_commands.htm

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