If your file is longer than the display of the terminal, you can simply type more file_name.txtĪnd you'll have a downwards scrolling display of text, in which you can move down by pressing ENTER.

cat file_name.txtĪn improved version of cat. Note that if you need to navigate through the document, you need to scroll the terminal output. Be careful: if the file is huge, it could take some time to complete the printing process! If you need to stop it, you can always press CTRL+C. This is the simplest way to read a text file it simply output the file content inside the terminal. Prefix % the substitute command to make changes on all lines:įind each occurrence of ‘foo’ (in all lines), and replace it with ‘bar’.Using Ubuntu you have different ways to read a text file, all similar but useful in different context. Replacing a Character String in VI editor For example, to find the next occurrence of “stringsearch” or “charsearch,” type: /.searchįor example, to find all strings beginning with a through z and ending with “stringsearch” and to find all occurrences of the string “charsearch”, type: /*search To match any character, type a period (.) in the string at the location to be matched. Searches normally are case sensitive: a search for “sata” will not find “Sata” If you want vi to ignore case during a search, type :set ic To change it back to the default, case-sensitive mode, type :set noic. In this situation, the directions of n and N are reversed. To search backward in a file, you can use ? instead of /. Type n to go to the next occurrence of the string. vi positions the cursor at the next occurrence of the string.įor example, type /sata followed by Return, to find the string “sata,” To search a character string, just type / followed by the string you want to search for, and then press Return (Enter key). For a string search, the / and ? commands are used. The vi editor has two kinds of searches : Now moving to Advance vi editor tutorial Searching and Replacing in vi editor Finding a Character String Substitute entire line and begin to insert at the beginning of the line Substitute one character under cursor continue to insert Write at the end of line (goes into insert mode)ĭelete contents of a line after the cursor and insert new text.

Write after cursor (goes into insert mode) Note: You should be in the “command mode” to execute these commands. Inserts text at the end of the current lineĬreates a new line for text entry below the cursor locationĬreates a new line for text entry above the cursor locationīelow command used to deleted characters and lines in an open file − Keystrokeĭeletes the character under the cursor locationĭeletes the character before the cursor locationĭeletes from the current cursor location to the next wordĭeletes from the current cursor position to the beginning of the lineĭeletes from the current cursor position to the end of the lineĭeletes from the cursor position to the end of the current lineĢx deletes two characters under the cursor location and 2dd deletes two lines the cursor is on. Inserts text after the current cursor location Inserts text at the beginning of the current line Inserts text before the current cursor location Before editing the file you need to be in insert mode.

Edit text file in terminal ubuntu