VI Editor Pocket Reference: Amazon.ca: Arnold Robbins: Books

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Book Description

For many users, working in the UNIX environment means using vi, a full-screen text editor available on most UNIX systems. Even those who know vi often make use of only a small number of its features.

The vi Editor Pocket Reference is a companion volume to O'Reilly's updated sixth edition of Learning the vi Editor, a complete guide to text editing with vi. New topics in Learning the vi Editor include multi-screen editing and coverage of four vi clones: vim, elvis, nvi, and vile.

This small book is a handy reference guide to the information in the larger volume, presenting movement and editing commands, the command-line options, and other elements of the vi editor in an easy-to-use tabular format.

From the Publisher

The vi Editor Pocket Reference is a companion volume to O'Reilly's updated sixth edition of Learning the vi Editor, presenting movement and editing commands, the command-line options, and other elements of the vi editor in an easy-to-use tabular format.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
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Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A Handy reference, Sep 17 2010

By

Karen - See all my reviews

This review is from: VI Editor Pocket Reference (Paperback)

This is a very handy pocket reference for those who know vi or those who are reading the "Learning the vi Editor". It does not go to details of existing commands but makes a list of them with short explanations. Since it is a small pocket size book it is easy to have it with you everywhere, while keeping the main book in home or office. I am happy for having it along with the main book.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A very, very good pocket reference, Aug 17 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: VI Editor Pocket Reference (Paperback)

This is the first time I've given any book five stars. That's because this is the best pocket quick reference of VI you're going to find. The information is presented as concisely as it can be and still remain accessible. Other, terser (and, yes, less expensive) quick reference cards for VI are too cryptic to be useful, in my opinion.

If you don't already know VI, try an on-line tutorial (there are plenty) or buy the more complete "Learning VI" book from O'Reilly to get you started. After you've acquired the basics, periodically refer to the Pocket Reference to add yet another "I didn't know VI did that" command to your toolkit.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the [money], Jan 16 2003

By

Dean Jones Jr. (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VI Editor Pocket Reference (Paperback)

I always only knew enough of vi to get me in and out of it without getting frustrated. A very basic understanding such as the commands i, a, o, dd, dw, Y and P. Actually, those were just about all I used except for wq! I did all of my coding in GUI IDE's and such... Mainly 'Moleskine' (which is a very very nice editor, by the way).

Recently, I realized that I hate having to always remove my hands from the keyboard every time I wanted to cut and paste or even scroll down the page. I decided to move on to vi. I tried elvis and vim. Since I don't like true <tabs> in my source code, and work suggests 4 spaces instead of <tabs>, then I had to go with vim because elvis didn't have the expand tab option.

Anyway, I'm amazed at what vim (and elvis too) can do! I started out reading the vim and elvis docs and saw a whole slew of things it can do. This is going to save me a lot of time and effort when coding! I got some nice syntax highlighting set up in vim (to match how elvis does it... just black and white. easy on the eyes.) and learned a lot of about the editor.

I figured that I wouldn't remember everything there was to know about the vi commands and such, so I went out and bought this book. Over the past 2 days I have been diving into it at least 10 times a day to discover if there are any commands or to get the right syntax for the ones I remember. This is already worth the [money] I spent on it!! I've learned a lot of things from it already.

I'd say if you are a seasoned vi user, this book isn't going to be of much help to you. Also, if you are a new user to VI, you need to get a full tutorial such as the parent book to this so they can walk you through some things. This book is just a *Pocket Reference*! Meaning, if you forget a commands syntax, this is a good thing to have on your desk so you can grab it quickly! It's not going to teach you squat about vi if you don' t know how to even enter Insert mode! However, if you're like me and you only know enough to get you in and out of vi, pick this book up! You'll be amazed at the commands you have been missing and the commands that will help you very very much! VI beats a GUI editor for efficiency and productivity, hands down!

Now, back to coding!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great little reference - price a little much though
Just like O'Reilly's other books, this one shows you what you need to know about vi plus the other vi clones out there like VIM and Elvis. Read more

Published on Oct 27 2002 by E. Chapa

2.0 out of 5 stars Fine if you already know vi.
I didn't find this reference any good UNTIL I knew vi well. It is OK for a quick look up to remember a command; but to learn something new or more than you already know forget it... Read more