讲述了：如果你使用Unix和Linux的话，vi和Vim是必备知识，因此，《学习Vi和vim编辑器（影印版）》也是必备之书。
“vi, 如同很多在Unix早期阶段开发的经典应用程序一样，有着不易使用的评价。Bram Moolenaar的增强版克隆，Vim，已经为消除这样的印象做了非常多的努力……它可能已经成为最流行的vi版本。”

内容为：在过去将近30年的时间里，vi已经成为Unix和Linux的标准编辑器，而从1986年开始《学习Vi和vim编辑器(影印版)》也已成为vi的主要指南。但是现在Unix已经不是三十年前的样子，这《学习Vi和vim编辑器(影印版)》也同样不会是。《学习vi和Vim 第七版》已经进行了扩展，包括了Vim这个主要vi克隆的细节。Vim作为目前绝大多数Linux系统的缺省编辑器和Mac OS X的缺省vi版本，也可以应用于很多其他操作系统。这本指南在讲解文本编辑基础知识的同时，也涵盖了高级工具，例如用交互式的宏和脚本来扩展编辑器的功能——所有这些都用易于理解的方式来传授，这种风格已经让《学习Vi和vim编辑器(影印版)》成为经典。如果你使用Unix和Linux的话，vi和Vim是必备知识，因此，《学习Vi和vim编辑器(影印版)》也是必备之书。你将学到以下内容：
· 高效使用vi
· 深入讲解vi的知识，例如使用缓存
· 使用vi的全局搜索替换功能
· 定制vi以及运行Unix命令..
· 使用Vim的扩展文本对象和强大正则表达式
· 使用多窗口编辑并且编写Vim脚本
· 发挥图形用户界面版的Vim也就是gvim的全部功能
· 使用Vim的增强功能，例如语法高亮和扩展标签
· 将Vim和其他三个vi的克隆nvi、elvis和vile进行比较

Arnold Robbins是一位专业程序员和技术作者，从1980年开始就在Unix系统上工作，帮助过awk的POSIX标准制订。
Elbert Hannah是一位专业软件工程师和架构师，他的第一个工作任务是在1983年用汇编语言编写一个全屏编辑器。
Linda Lamb，Oreilly的首批作者之一，也是公司的技术作者和市场经理。

“vi, 如同很多在Unix早期阶段开发的经典应用程序一样，有着不易使用的评价。Bram Moolenaar的增强版克隆，Vim，已经为消除这样的印象做了非常多的努力……它可能已经成为最流行的vi版本。”
——摘自前言

Preface .
Part I. Basic and Advanced vi
1. The vi Text Editor
A Brief Historical Perspective
Opening and Closing Files
Quitting Without Saving Edits

2. Simple Editing
vi Commands
Moving the Cursor
Simple Edits
More Ways to Insert Text
Joining Two Lines with J
Review of Basic vi Commands

3. Moving Around in a Hurry
Movement by Screens
Movement by Text Blocks
Movement by Searches
Movement by Line Number
Review of vi Motion Commands

4. Beyond the Basics
More Command Combinations
Options When Starting vi
Making Use of Buffers
Marking Your Place
Other Advanced Edits
Review of vi Buffer and Marking Commands

5. Introducing the ex Editor
ex Commands
Editing with ex
Saving and Exiting Files
Copying a File into Another File
Editing Multiple Files

6. Global Replacement
Confirming Substitutions
Context-Sensitive Replacement
Pattern-Matching Rules
Pattern-Matching Examples
A Final Look at Pattern Matching

7. Advanced Editing
Customizing vi
Executing Unix Commands
Saving Commands
Using ex Scripts
Editing Program Source Code

8. Introduction to the vi Clones
And These Are My Brothers, Darrell, Darrell, and Darrell
Multiwindow Editing
GUI Interfaces
Extended Regular Expressions
Enhanced Tags
Improved Facilities
Programming Assistance
Editor Comparison Summary
Nothing Like the Original
A Look Ahead
Part II. Vim

9. Vim (vi Improved): An Introduction
Overview
Where to Get Vim
Getting Vim for Unix and GNU/Linux
Getting Vim for Windows Environments
Getting Vim for the Macintosh Environment
Other Operating Systems
Aids and Easy Modes for New Users
Summary

10. Major Vim Improvements over vi
Built-in Help
Startup and Initialization Options
New Motion Commands
Extended Regular Expressions
Customizing the Executable

11. Multiple Windows in Vim
Initiating Multiwindow Editing
Opening Windows
Moving Around Windows (Getting Your Cursor from Here to There)..
Moving Windows Around
Resizing Windows
Buffers and Their Interaction with Windows
Playing Tag with Windows
Tabbed Editing
Closing and Quitting Windows
Summary

12. Vim Scripts
Whats Your Favorite Color (Scheme)?
Dynamic File Type Configuration Through Scripting
Some Additional Thoughts About Vim Scripting
Resources

13. Graphical Vim (gvim)
General Introduction to gvim
Customizing Scrollbars, Menus, and Toolbars
gvim in Microsoft Windows
gvim in the X Window System
GUI Options and Command Synopsis

14. Vim Enhancements for Programmers
Folding and Outlining (Outline Mode)
Auto and Smart Indenting
Keyword and Dictionary Word Completion
Tag Stacking
Syntax Highlighting
Compiling and Checking Errors with Vim
Some Final Thoughts on Vim for Writing Programs

15. Other Cool Stuff in Vim
Editing Binary Files
Digraphs: Non-ASCII Characters
Editing Files in Other Places
Navigating and Changing Directories
Backups with Vim
HTML Your Text
Whats the Difference?
Undoing Undos
Now, Where Was I?
Whats My Line (Size)?
Abbreviations of Vim Commands and Options
A Few Quickies (Not Necessarily Vim-Specific)
More Resources
Part III. Other vi Clones

16. nvi: New vi
Author and History
Important Command-Line Arguments
Online Help and Other Documentation
Initialization
Multiwindow Editing
GUI Interfaces
Extended Regular Expressions
Improvements for Editing
Programming Assistance
Interesting Features
Sources and Supported Operating Systems

17. Elvis
Author and History
Important Command-Line Arguments
Online Help and Other Documentation
Initialization
Multiwindow Editing
GUI Interfaces
Extended Regular Expressions
Improved Editing Facilities
Programming Assistance
Interesting Features
elvis Futures
Sources and Supported Operating Systems

18. vile: vi Like Emacs
Authors and History
Important Command-Line Arguments
Online Help and Other Documentation
Initialization
Multiwindow Editing
GUI Interfaces
Extended Regular Expressions
Improved Editing Facilities
Programming Assistance
Interesting Features
Sources and Supported Operating Systems
Part IV. Appendixes
A. The vi, ex, and Vim Editors
B. Setting Options
C. Problem Checklists
D. vi and the Internet
Index

Unix" has a number of editors that can process the contents of text files, whether those files contain data, source code, or sentences. There are line editors, such as ed and ex, which display a line of the file on the" screen; and there are screen editors, such as vi and Emacs, which display a part of the file on your terminal screen. Text editors based on the X Window System are also commonly available and are becoming increasing popular. Both GNU Emacs and its derivative, XEmacs, provide multiple X windows; two interesting alternatives are the sam and Acme editors from Bell Labs. Vim also provides an X-based interface.
vi is the most useful standard text editor on your system. (vi is short for visual editor and is pronounced "vee-eye." This is illustrated graphically in Figure 1-1.) Unlike Emacs, it is available in nearly identical form on every modern Unix system, thus pro- riding a kind of text-editing linguafranca.The same might be said of ed and ex, but screen editors are generally much easier to use. (So much so, in fact, that line editors have generally fallen into disuse.) With a screen editor, you can scroll the page, move the cursor, delete lines, insert characters, and more, while seeing the results of your edits as you make them. Screen editors are very popular, since they allow you to make changes as you read through a file, like you would edit a printed copy, only faster. To many beginners, vi looks unintuitive and cumbersome——instead of using specialcontrol keys for word processing functions and just letting you type normally, it uses all of the regular keyboard keys for issuing commands. When the keyboard keys are issuing commands, vi is said to be in command mode. You must be in a special insert mode before you can type actual text on the screen. In addition, there seem to be so many commands.

Text editing is one of the most common tasks on any computer system, and vi is one of the most useful standard text editors on a system. With vi you can create new files or edit any existing text-only file. .
vi, like many of the classic utilities developed during the early years of Unix, has a reputation for being hard to navigate. Bram Moolenaars enhanced clone, Vim ("vi Improved"), has gone a long way toward removing reasons for such impressions. Vim includes countless conveniences, visual guides, and help screens. It has become probably the most popular version of vi, so this seventh edition of this book devotes seven new chapters to it in Part II, Vim. However, many other worthy clones of vi also exist; we cover three of them in Part III, Other vi Clones.
Scope of This Book
This book consists of 18 chapters and 4 appendixes, divided into 4 parts. Part I, Basic and Advanced vi, is designed to get you started using vi quickly, and to follow up with advanced skills that will let you use it effectively.
The first two chapters, Chapter 1, The vi Text Editor, and Chapter 2, Simple Editing, present some simple vi commands with which you can get started. You should practice these until they are second nature. You could stop reading at the end of Chapter 2, having learned some elementary editing tools.
But vi is meant to do a lot more than rudimentary word processing; the variety of commands and options enables you to shortcut a lot of editing drudgery. Chapter 3, Moving Around in a Hurry, and Chapter 4, Beyond the Basics, concentrate on easier ways to do tasks. During your first reading, youll get at least an idea of what vi can do and what commands you might harness for your specific needs. Later, you can come back to these chapters for further study.
Chapter 5, Introducing the ex Editor, Chapter 6, Global Replacement, and Chapter 7, Advanced Editing, provide tools that help you shift more of the editing burden to the computer. They introduce you to the ex line editor underlying vi, and they show you how to issue ex commands from within vi.
Chapter 8, Introduction to the vi Clones, provides an introduction to the extensions available in the four vi clones covered in this book. It centralizes in one place the descriptions of multiwindow editing, GUI interfaces, extended regular expressions, facilities that make editing easier, and several other features, providing a roadmap to what follows in the rest of this book. It also provides a pointer to source code for the original vi, which can be compiled easily on modem Unix systems (including GNU/Linux).
Part II, Vim, describes Vim, the most popular vi clone in the early part of the 21st century.
Chapter 9, Vim (vi Improved): An Introduction, provides a general introduction to Vim, including where to get binary versions for popular operating systems and some of the different ways to use Vim.
Chapter 10, Major Vim Improvements over vi, describes the major improvements in Vim over vi, such as built-in help, control over initialization, additional motion commands, and extended regular expressions.
Chapter 11, Multiple Windows in Vim, focuses on multiwindow editing, which is perhaps the most significant additional feature over standard vi. This chapter provides all the details on creating and using multiple windows.
Chapter 12, Vim Scripts, looks into the Vim command language, which lets you write scripts to customize and tailor Vim to suit your needs. Much of Vims ease of use "out of the box" comes from the large number of scripts that other users have already written and contributed to the Vim distribution.
Chapter 13, Graphical Vim (grim), looks at Vim in modem GUI environments, such as those that are now standard on commercial Unix systems, GNU/Linux and other Unix work-alikes, and MS Windows.
Chapter 14, Vim Enhancements for Programmers, focuses on Vims use as a programmers editor, above and beyond its facilities for general text editing. Of particular value are the folding and outlining facilities, smart indenting, syntax highlighting, and editcompile-debug cycle speedups.
Chapter 15, Other Cool Stuff in Vim, is a bit of a catch-all chapter, covering a number of interesting points that dont fit into the earlier chapters.
Part III, Other vi Clones, describes three other popular vi clones: nvi, elvis, and vile. Chapter 16, nvi: New vi, Chapter 17, Elvis, and Chapter 18, vile: vi Like Emacs, cover the various vi clones——nvi, elvis, and vile showing you how to use their extensions to vi and discussing the features that are specific to each one.
Part IV, Appendixes, provides useful reference material.
Appendix A, The vi, ex, and Vim Editors, lists all vi and ex commands, sorted by function. It also provides an alphabetical list of ex commands. Selected vi and ex commands from Vim are also included.
Appendix B, Setting Options, lists set command options for vi and for all four clones.
Appendix C, Problem Checklists, consolidates checklists found earlier in the book.
Appendix D, vi and the Internet, describes vis place in the larger Unix and Internet culture.
How the Material Is Presented
Our philosophy is to give you a good overview of what we feel are vi survival materials for the new user. Learning a new editor, especially an editor with all the options of vi, can seem like an overwhelming task. We have made an effort to present basic concepts and commands in an easy-to-read and logical manner.
After providing the basics for vi, which are usable everywhere, we move on to cover Vim in depth. We then round out our coverage of the vi landscape by looking at nvi, elvis, and vile. The following sections describe the conventions used in this book.
Discussion of vi Commands
A picture of a keyboard button, like the one on the left, marks the main discussion of that particular keyboard command or of related commands. You will find a brief introduction to the main concept before it is broken down into task-oriented sections. We then present the appropriate command to use in each case, along with a description of the command and the proper syntax for using it.
Conventions
In syntax descriptions and examples, what you would actually type is shown in the Courier font, as are all command names. Filenames are also shown in Courier, as are program options. Variables (which you would not type literally, but would replace with an actual value when you type the command) are shown in Courier italic. Brackets indicate that a variable is optional. For example, in the syntax line: vi [filename]
filename would be replaced by an actual filename. The brackets indicate that the vi command can be invoked without specifying a filename at all. The brackets themselves are not typed.
Certain examples show the effect of commands typed at the Unix shell prompt. In such examples, what you actually type is shown in Courier Bold, to distinguish it from the system response.
In code examples, italic indicates a comment that is not to be typed. Otherwise, italic introduces special terms and emphasizes anything that needs emphasis.
Following traditional Unix documentation convention, references of the form printf(3) refer to the online manual (accessed via the man command). This example refers to the entry for the printf() function in section 3 of the manual (you would type man 3 printf on most systems to see it).