Vim Indepth

Question 1

Commands to Open Vim

Answer 1

enter ‘vim’ without an argument or option in the command line to open the welcome screen. From here, enter ‘vim [file name] to open the file. If a file by that name does not exist, it will create it.

If you just enter ‘vim [file name]’ from the Bash command line, it will immediately open the file, skipping the welcome screen. Again, if the file doesn’t exist, Vim will create it.

Question 2

Vim vertical split screen command

Answer 2

ctrl + w + v

Question 3

Vim horizontal split screen command

Answer 3

ctrl + w + s

Question 4

Insert Mode

Answer 4

Enables users to insert text by typing into the system

Question 5

Execute Mode

Answer 5

Enables users to execute commands within the editor

Question 6

Command Mode

Answer 6

Enables users to perform different editing actions using single keystrokes

Question 7

Visual Mode

Answer 7

Enables users to highlight or select text for copying and deleting

Question 8

Vim, Enter Insert Mode from the Command Mode

Answer 8

i - insert text to the left of the cursor
A - add text at the end of a line
I - insert text at the beginning of a line
o - insert text on a new line below the cursor
O - insert text on a new line above the cursor

Question 9

Vim, Enter Visual Mode from the Command Mode

Answer 9

v - enable selection, one character at a time
V - enable selection, one line at a time

Question 10

Vim, Enter Execute Mode from the Command Mode

Answer 10

:

Question 11

Vim, Return to Command Mode

Answer 11

Esc

Question 12

:w [file name]
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 12

save the open file with the file name if saved for the first time

Question 13

:q
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 13

quit if there have been no changes since the last save

Question 14

:q!
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 14

quit without saving changes

Question 15

:qa
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 15

quit multiple file/quit all

Question 16

:wq
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 16

save the file and quit

Question 17

:e!
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 17

revert to the last saved version of the file without quiting or closing the file

Question 18

:! [any Linux command]
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 18

execute the command and display both the command and any output from the command

Question 19

:help
(Vim execute mode supported command)

Answer 19

open Vim’s built-in help documentation

Question 20

Vim motions

Answer 20

Used inside Command Mode, Motions move the cursor anywhere within a document

Question 21

h
(Vim Motion key)

Answer 21

move one character to the left
(can also use the left arrow key)

Used inside Command Mode

Question 22

j
(Vim Motion key)

Answer 22

move down one line
(can also use the down arrow key)

Used inside Command Mode

Question 23

k
(Vim Motion key)

Answer 23

move up one line
(can also use the up arrow key)

Used inside Command Mode

Question 24

l
(Vim Motion key)

Answer 24

move right one character
(can also use the right arrow key)

Used inside Command Mode

Question 25

^ (Vim Motion key)

Answer 25

move to the beginning of the current line Used inside Command Mode

Question 26

$ (Vim Motion key)

Answer 26

move to the end of the current line Used inside Command Mode

Question 27

w (Vim Motion key)

Answer 27

move to the next word Used inside Command Mode

Question 28

b (Vim Motion key)

Answer 28

move to the previous word Used inside Command Mode

Question 29

Shift + L (Vim Motion key)

Answer 29

move to the bottom of the screen Used inside Command Mode

Question 30

Shift + H (Vim Motion key)

Answer 30

move to the first line of the screen Used inside Command Mode

Question 31

[#] Shift + G (Vim Motion key)

Answer 31

move to the line # Used inside Command Mode

Question 32

gg (Vim Motion key)

Answer 32

move to the first line of the file (can also use the home key) Used inside Command Mode

Question 33

Shift + G (Vim Motion key)

Answer 33

move to the last line of the file (can also use the end key) Used inside Command Mode

Question 34

/[text string] (Vim Motion key)

Answer 34

search (forward?) through the document for the specified text Used inside Command Mode

Question 35

?[text string] (Vim Motion key)

Answer 35

search backward through the document for the specified text Used inside Command Mode

Question 36

u (Vim Motion key)

Answer 36

undo the latest change Used inside Command Mode

Question 37

ZZ (capitals) (Vim Motion key)

Answer 37

save the file and quit Vim Used inside Command Mode