Learning the vi Editor, Sixth Edition
By Linda Lamb, Arnold Robbins
November 1998
Pages: 348
ISBN 10: 1-56592-426-6 |
ISBN 13: 9781565924260
(5) (Average of 9 Customer Reviews)
This book is OUT OF PRINT. Please consider the latest edition.
Book descriptionThis complete guide to editing with vi, the editor available on nearly every Unix system, covers four popular vi clones and includes command summaries for easy reference. It starts with the basics, followed by more advanced editing tools, such as ex commands, global search and replacement, and a new feature, multiscreen editing.
Full Description
- Basic editing
- Moving around in a hurry
- Beyond the basics
- Greater power with ex
- Global search and replacement
- Customizing vi and ex
- Command shortcuts
- Introduction to the vi clones' extensions
- The nvi, elvis, vim, and vile editors
- Quick reference to vi and ex commands
- vi and the Internet
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| Table of Contents | Index | Sample Chapter | Colophon
Book details
Sixth Edition: November 1998
ISBN: 1-56592-426-6
Pages: 348
Average Customer Reviews: (5) (Based on 9 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
A Gem of a book for the Gold standard of editors, April 13 2004
This book is the perfect spouse to my favorite editor and the best editor of all time.
The best part of this book is the author's wonderful explanation of Regular Expressions which is also topped of with the amazing examples. This part alone is worth the purchase. I learnt how to use regular expressions effectively from this book alone...BUY IT, TREASURE IT AND YOU WILL READ IT JUST FOR RELAXATION AND IT WILL BECOME DOG EARED AND TATTERED BUT YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT OR THE WONDERFUL EDITOR IT EXPLAINS...
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, August 25 2003
I'm satisfied with my recent purchase of Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition. There are two things O'Reilly could do to improve this book:
- Add a removable vi quick reference card to the back of the book
- Add some tutorial or example files to the O'Reilly Web site that correspond to examples in the book
Having said that, I think Learning the vi Editor is a great place for someone unfamiliar with vi to begin learning.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, October 12 2002
i never see such a book on vi editor.its saved my skin
iam new to unix and needs to work on unix since one month.iam struggling to get familiar with Vi editor.
i just bought yesterday and reading today for first 4 chapters,i strongly felt i would have read this book early.it's really very very good book and better understanding
i will buy present this book to my project team mates
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, October 12 2002
i never see such a book on vi editor.its saved my skin
iam new to unix and needs to work on unix sice one month.iam struggling to get familiar with Vi editor.
i just bought yesterday and reading today for first 4 chapters,i strongly felt i would have read this book early.it's really very very good book and better understanding
i will buy present this book to my project team mates
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, December 24 2001
In the world of UNIX,this book can help users to edit the text files effectively.And at the end of the day, you will realize that " what you see
is what you get!"
NEY.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, March 02 2001
What can I say other than this book has pulled me out of all sorts of tough, nasty, little ruts.
Chapters one to four are the meat and potatoes of the book. Those four chapters are a quick read at 52 pages long. Take it with you to the laundrymat. It definitely beats watching the spin-cycle. With it, you'll be able to effectively get your job done.
For flair, to flaunt your stuff in front of your co-workers, and to just kick-butt on onerous amounts of code and data changes, you need to read chapters 5: "Introducing the ex Editor"; 6: "Global Replacement"; and 7: "Advanced Editing".
Lots of great examples. If you don't have a copy of this book--you're wrong.
Enjoy REAL editing power! vi rules! Viva vi!
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, February 05 2001
Before reading this book, I was already a fanatic vi (Vim) user.
So I bought this book just to know all the tips and tricks... well it opened me
a new world. There were things I used to do with sed or awk that I am now able to do with Vi. Every little trick is explained and shown in action with examples.
There is only a sad thing: I'd like to see more space dedicated to Vim and its special features.
Anyway, a must have for all vi users.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, September 24 2000
This is an excellent tutorial for vi. If you want to win friends and influence people, learn vi. I hope the 7th edition has even more coverage of advanced features in vim. Vi IMproved at http://vim.org/
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, June 15 2000
Perfection as a tutorial, and also a great reference. The only downside was the lack of a summary page like the Emacs book.
I'm a Vim user myself, so the support for Vi clones was an excellent idea, as most rarely use vanilla Vi anymore. Not if they want to defend themselves to Emacs people anyway. ;-)
A truly great piece of work.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, October 14 1999
Submitted by Sean Cody [Respond | View]
Great book... and one I don't regret purchasing two weeks after I bought it! I was hoping there to be a discussion on the "conversion" process between say pico or dos-edit to vi as that's the biggest problem right now. I really love the vi editor now but I don't have the "feel" for it as I do for "standard" editors (ctrl-insert copy, shift-insert paste as well as block selection). As a suggestion please look into a chapter on the "conversion factor" topic.. Other than that kudos on a great book.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, August 17 1999
Submitted by Chris X Edwards [Respond | View]
This book was, overall, pretty good at allowing
someone to "Learn the vi Editor". If you know
a lot about vi already, then it's pretty tedious
reading through the easy stuff. I read it cover
to cover just to find little gems that I didn't
know about. And they were there. Particularly
with some clever usage of the ex editor (vi's
underlying ancestor). I liked the concept of
the examples, but sometimes they were kind of
cryptic - like "what if you want troff codes on
every line". Ok, great. I don't use troff.
But I'm glad I read through it. I feel I
understand my beloved editor much better as a
result.
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, June 17 1999
Submitted by Peter Cheung [Respond | View]
This vi book just runs out too fast in our local Borders bookstore....I Couldn't find it in Barns&Noble either... Maybe they are out of stock... I browsed it in the store and was difinietly ready to buy it....well, if I had enough money that day...
I love O'reilly books... Think you reader folks might want to try their Learning the Bash shell book also
Learning the vi Editor, 6th Edition Review, November 25 1998
Submitted by Kelly Jones, Seattle [Respond | View]
Learning vi is excellent. I particularly appreciated the chapters on the different vi clones (vim, nvi, etc..) Good job O'Reilly (again!).
Media reviews
"Learning the vi editor is a book small enough that you can flick through it quickly as a desktop reference, yet it is large enough that even experienced UNIX programmers can find one or two obscure features covered. There is something Zen-like in this balance of not putting in too much or too little." --Regan Russell, Dr Dobbs Electronic Review of Computer Books March 2001
"After skimming the first two chapters and ripping out the 'Quick Reference Guide' I was off! I can now edit text files without crying, have even found vi to be quite powerful despite its age. Reading the book, I learned that many of vi's commands are great time savers. In short, this book helped me save my hair. I would recommend this book to anyone who is forced to (or for some reason chooses to) use the vi editor. The Quick Reference alone is probably worth half the price of the book!" --SLUG reviews, May 2000
"I can heartily recommend Learning the vi Editor by Linda Lamb" --David S. Jackson, Computeredge, Feb 4, 2000
(for previous edition)
"For those who are looking for an introductory book to give to new staff members who have no acquaintance with either screen editing or with UNIX screen editing, this is it: a book on vi that is neither designed for the UNIX in-crowd, nor so imbecilic that one is ashamed to use it." --;login, May/June 1989
"Before turning anyone loose in vi, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you make sure they purchase and are reading the book on the vi editor from O'Reilly & Associates. I was mostly lost and frustrated with vi until I bought this book and read it." --Message ID: <9101240057.AA21147@minerva.che.uc.edu>
"The Nutshell handbook on vi is *outstanding*. The writing style is excellent (as are the Nutshell books), and even I learned a couple of things from the book....You can't go wrong with a Nutshell handbook." --Message-ID: <364@mtndew.UUCP>
(for previous edition)
"I wish I had had a copy of Learning the vi Editor seven years ago when I first encountered vi. Unfortunately for me I learned how to use it by trial and error and by osmosis from other users, and as a result have been using it in seriously non-optimal fashion ever since! So Learning the vi Editor may well be useful for experienced users of vi who haven't ever read much about it. It is aimed at beginners, however, and will be even more useful if read before bad habits set in. It's clearly and sensibly laid out, with the essentials at the beginning and the advanced stuff at the end, and, while providing plentiful examples, manages to explain everything reasonably succinctly.
"While I personally wouldn't wish learning how to use vi on anyone, there are still many occasions where one is faced with a text-only interface, and vi (or a clone) is the editor available on the widest range of systems. I really can't argue the merits of alternative editors, but if you do decide on learning vi then I strongly suggest arming yourself with a copy of Learning the vi Editor before tackling the task." -- Disclaimer: I requested and received a review copy of Learning the vi Editor from O'Reily & Associates but I have no stake, financial or otherwise, in its success. -- --Copyright (C) Danny Yee 1994 Other reviews by Danny Yee available at: URL http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/book-reviews/index.html
"I think every UNIX user needs to have at least a rudimentary command of vi, because it is the default UNIX screen editor and may be the only editor available on another machine. GNU Emacs is free, but installing it on some machines requires non- trivial effort, or requires non-trivial machine resources. Therefore, many UNIX users will find themselves stuck having to use vi sooner or later, so they might as well be able to get around in it. Before turning anyone loose in vi, however, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you make sure they purchase and are reading the book on the vi editor from O'Reilly & Associates. I was mostly lost and frustrated with vi until I bought this book and read it." --Message ID: <9101240057.AA21147@minerva.che.uc.edu>
