Vim - Ex Mode

When learning Vim, it's important to understand its modes, including the Ex Mode where you can continually type your commands using Vim's built-in Ex-compatibility mode.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

Once you installed Vim, learned the basics of Vim Modes and understood Normal mode, it's time to learn yet another Vim mode: Ex Mode. This is the mode where you can commands in batch and even emulate the old Ex text editor.

What's Ex Mode?

If you learned about the Command-line mode you already know how to enter Ex commands in Vim. Turns out that the Ex mode is an extension of that mode and allows us to run not only single commands but also serves as a built-in batch processing tool for Vim.

It's also worth pointing out that Ex is a text editor, predecessor of Vim, and from which Vim (and vi) got a lot of inspiration from. Vim still today supports a direct Ex emulation (via the Q command) which is less and less used.

The Ex mode is also part of a broader group of advanced capabilities which we'll discuss in future posts.

Entering Ex mode

To enter the improved Ex mode from Vim, press either gQ in Normal mode. You should see a message similar to:

Type gQ to get to Ex mode

From there, you can start typing your commands. For example, highlighted in yellow are three commands run in the same Ex session:

While in Ex mode, keep entering your Ex commands

Ex mode from the shell

Ex mode can also be accessed from the shell via the ex command (or vim -e). Running it, should result in a screen similar to:

Vim started in ex mode

Getting to Normal Mode

To get back to Normal mode from Ex mode, enter the :visual c(or :vi for short).

Quitting Ex Mode

To quit Ex mode, enter the already known :q command.

When to use the Ex mode?

Advanced Vimmers prefer using the Ex for batch processing since they can combine Vim's awesome features (such as buffers and regular expressions) in more powerful ways than if they had to perform the same operations by combining tools like awk, sed and others.

Apart from batch processing, other more advanced use cases are:

• editing multiple files non-interactively (for example, as part of the script)
• an alternative for slow connections
• mappings and abbreviations are disabled
• restricted access to keys such as Escape or Control

Keep tuned as we will provide more examples of the above use cases in future blog posts.

Learning More

Ready to learn more about the Ex mode? Open its dedicated manual with:

:h ex-mode

Mode-specific help

If you want to know more about specific keys, Vim also has an intelligent mechanism to get you to the help quickly. It follows this pattern:

What	Prepend	Example
Normal mode command		:help x
Visual mode command	v_	:help v_u
Insert mode command	i_	:help i_<Esc>
Command-line command	:	:help :quit
Command-line editing	c_	:help c_<del>
Vim command argument	-	:help -r
Option	'	:help 'textwidth'
Regular expression	/	:help /[

We hope you get used to the above syntax and use it regularly in you your Vim journey. It will not only help you learn more about Vim but also to memorize the commands better.

Conclusion

On this post we continued in our Vim journey by learning a bit more about Vim's Ex mode. If it seems complicated, don't be concerned. It takes years to master Vim but be sure that the more you learn, the more you realize that time is that secret ingredient in getting comfortable, becoming proficient and efficient with Vim.

Learning Vim is like learning a musical instrument. It takes time, effort and discipline but once you master it, the gains are endless. You definitely won't regret.

Recommended Reading

Since the use cases for Ex mode are more advanced, we recommend reading the following articles:

• How to edit files non-interactively (e.g. in pipeline)?
• How can I replace a string with another string in a variable, a stream, a file, or in all the files in a directory?
• Learning the vi Editor/Vim/Modes: Ex-mode
• Does Ex mode have any practical use?

See Also

• Switching modes in Vim
• Vim - Normal Mode
• Vim - Insert Mode
• Vim - Visual Mode
• Vim - Blockwise Visual Mode (aka vertical selection)
• Vim - Replace Mode
• Vim - Command-Line Mode
• Vim - Select Mode
• Why use Vim
• How to get started with Vim
• Learn to learn Vim
• Vimtutor - Your first Vim tutorial
• Vim Modes - All you need to know

Switching Modes in Vim

Learn how to swtich modes in Vim.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

On a previous post we learned about three of the most important foundational concepts of Vim: Commands, Buffers, Modes and Motions. We also recently reviewed how to install Vim on Macs, Windows or Linux, learned how to get started with Vim and mastered your first Vim tutorial, let's review tips and tricks to keep learning Vim. 

Today we will continue discussing Modes, specifically talking about a common operation in Vim: how to switch modes. But before we continue, let's review what are modes in Vim and which they are.

Modes in Vim

Modes are another feature that differentiates Vim from traditional text editors and something that's important to comprehend. Modes are 

The most common modes are:

• Normal: Vim's primary mode and the one we use to run commands:
• Insert: the mode where you edit the contents of your files
• Visual: visual selection of contents
• Replace: allows you to type over the text, replacing it
• Command-line: allows you to execute commands via its own command-line prompt
• Visual-block: allows you to make block-level changes (vertical selections and modifications)
• Ex: in this mode Vim emulates the Ex editor and is used mainly for batch processing
• Select: like the visual mode but with more CUA like behavior.

How to switch Modes in Vim

But understanding Modes is just the first part. Next, you have to understand how to switch between modes. The traditional workflow is to press <Esc> to go back to normal mode then press a keystroke to enter the other mode. Some of the keystrokes you can use to switch between modes are:

• <Esc> - goes back to normal mode
• i - enters insert mode (but other keystrokes exist)
• : - enters command mode (but other keystrokes exist)
• v - enters visual mode
• V - enters visual mode (line selection)
• R - enters command-line mode
• <Ctrl-v>: enters visual block mode

Switching Modes in Action

So let's see some real use cases. In Vim, open an existing file with :e <filename> and follow the next steps.

Inserting Text in Insert Mode

For every opened file, the default mode is Normal mode. To type modifications in our file, we should either switch to Normal or Replace, Normal being by far the most common one. Some important keywords worth memorizing when switching from Normal to Insert mode are:

• i - to insert in the current position
• a - to insert after the next char
• C - to change from the next char (delete all until the end of the line)
• S - to substitute the current line (delete the whole line)

Back to Normal Mode

Next, get back to Normal Mode by pressing <Esc>, find the text hello by searching with /hello in normal mode and hit enter to set the cursor in that position.

Replacing text in Replace Mode

In case you want to type over the text, replacing it, press R to enter replace mode, enter your changes and <Esc> again to go back to normal mode.

Back to Normal Mode

Guess how should we get back to Normal Mode? You got it! By pressing <Esc>

Replacing Text using Command Mode

But we could have replaced hello by world using command mode. For example, the command below would run in command mode and would replace all occurrences of the word hello by world in the current buffer:

:%s/hello/world/g

Saving our file

Next, to save our file from Command Mode by typing :w

Quitting

And quit with :q

In which mode am I?

And how do we know in which mode we are? Assuming you're not running any plugins, Vim should show you that in the bottom of the screen:

• Normal Mode: blank (no info)
• Insert Mode: -- INSERT --
• Replace Mode: -- REPLACE --
• Visual: -- VISUAL LINE --
• and so on

For example, in insert mode you should see something like:

If that info is not available, try resetting the showmode config with:

:set showmode

Fore more info about that configuration, type:

:h showmode

Conclusion

On this post we reviewed how to switch modes in Vim. We hope that these examples helped you understand better how these modes work in conjunction. We recommend you playing with the modes and getting comfortable with them since they're an essential part of learning and mastering Vim.

See Also

• Vim - Normal Mode
• Vim - Insert Mode
• Vim - Visual Mode
• Vim - Blockwise Visual Mode (aka vertical selection)
• Vim - Replace Mode
• Vim - Command-Line Mode
• Vim - Select Mode
• Vim - Ex Mode
• Why use Vim
• How to get started with Vim
• Learn to learn Vim
• How to install Vim
• Vim's Fundamental Concepts

Vim Modes - All you need to know to get started

When learning Vim, it's important to understand well its Modes, one of Vim's most fundamental concepts.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

On a previous post we learned about three of the most important foundational concepts of Vim: Commands, Buffers, Modes and Motions. We also recently reviewed how to install Vim on Macs, Windows or Linux, learned how to get started with Vim and mastered your first Vim tutorial. 

Today we will continue our discussion on modes: what they are, what they serve and how to use them.

What are modes in Vim?

Modes are another feature that differentiates Vim from traditional text editors and something that's important to comprehend. Modes are essentially different ways (or modes) Vim can work on. To master (and learn well) Vim it's important to understand not only which they are but how they differ and how they can you help you get your work done.

The most common Modes

Vim has seven basic modes The most common modes are:

• Normal: Vim's primary mode and the one we use to run commands:
• Insert: the mode where you edit the contents of your files
• Visual: visual selection of contents
• Replace: allows you to type over the text, replacing it
• Command-line: allows you to execute commands via its own command-line prompt
• Terminal-Job: allows you to interact with a job in a terminal window
• Ex: in this mode Vim emulates the Ex editor and is used mainly for batch processing
• Select: like the visual mode but with more CUA like behavior.

Using the Modes

So let's see some examples in how can you use these modes.

Normal Mode

In normal mode you're not supposed to type text but to send commands to Vim. Some of them are:

• h - move one character left
• j - move one line down
• k - move one line up
• l - move one character right
• 0 - move to the beginning of the line
• $ - move to the end of the line 
• w move to beginning of next word
• b move to previous beginning of word
• gg - move to the beginning of the document
• G - move to the end of the document
• u - undo previous change
• Ctrl-r: redo previous change
• : - go to ex mode (where you can type commands, for example to quit Vim, save or open a file)
• ma - creates a mark a
• `a - moves the cursor to mark a
• and more, much more

Don't worry, we'll study normal modes in the future

Visual Mode

Press v in normal mode to enter visual mode, then move the arrow with h/j/k/l or with other commands (see above for examples). After you're comfortable with the selection, you can either type y to yank (copy) the text, x to delete it of any other command available in that mode.

We'll study more about the normal mode in the future.

Command Mode

It's also possible to run commands in Vim. That mode is called Command mode (or command-line mote) and to get to it type : while in normal mode. For example, the command below would run in command mode and would replace all occurrences of the word hello by world in the current buffer:

:%s/hello/world/g

Visual Mode

To use the visual mode (similar to the select feature in your text editor can be accomplished by pressing the following keys in normal mode:

• v - start visual mode from the current character
• V - start visual mode with line selection

Switching between modes

The last thing is how to switch between modes. The traditional workflow is to press <Esc> to go back to normal mode then press a keystroke to enter the other mode. Some of the keystrokes you can use to switch between modes are:

• <Esc> - goes back to normal mode
• i - enters insert mode
• : - enters command mode
• v - enters visual mode
• R - enters command-line mode
• V - enters visual mode (line selection)
• <Ctrl-v>: enters visual block mode

In which mode am I?

And how do we know in which mode we are? Assuming you're not running any plugins, Vim should show you that in the bottom of the screen:

• Normal Mode: blank (no info)
• Insert Mode: -- INSERT --
• Replace Mode: -- REPLACE --
• Visual: -- VISUAL LINE --
• and so on

For example, in insert mode you should see something like:

If that info is not available, try resetting the showmode config with:

:set showmode

Fore more info about that configuration, type:

:h showmode

Mode-specific help

Vim also has an intelligent mechanism to get you to the help quickly. It follows this pattern:

What	Prepend	Example
Normal mode command		:help x
Visual mode command	v_	:help v_u
Insert mode command	i_	:help i_<Esc>
Command-line command	:	:help :quit
Command-line editing	c_	:help c_<Del>
Vim command argument	-	:help -r
Option	'	:help 'textwidth'
Regular expression	/	:help /[

We hope you get used to the above syntax and use it regularly in you your Vim journey. It will not only help you learn more about Vim but also to memorize the commands better.

Conclusion

On this post we learned the most important modes, what they are, what they serve and how to use them.

If it seems complicated, don't be concerned. It takes years to master Vim but be sure that the more you learn, the more you realize that time is that secret ingredient in getting comfortable, becoming proficient and efficient with Vim. Learning Vim is like learning a musical instrument. It takes time, effort and discipline but once you master it, the gains are endless. You definitely won't regret.

See Also

• Switching modes in Vim
• Vim - Normal Mode
• Vim - Insert Mode
• Vim - Visual Mode
• Vim - Blockwise Visual Mode (aka vertical selection)
• Vim - Replace Mode
• Vim - Command-Line Mode
• Vim - Select Mode
• Vim - Ex Mode
• Why use Vim
• How to get started with Vim
• How to install Vim
• Learn to learn Vim
• Vimtutor - Your first Vim tutorial

Fundamental concepts of Vim

When learning Vim, it's important to understand its most fundamental concepts: Commands, Buffers, Modes and Motions.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

Once you installed Vim on Mac, Windows or Linux, learned how to get started with Vim and mastered your first Vim tutorial, the next thing you should learn about Vim is its fundamental concepts: Commands, Buffers, Modes and Motions.

Commands

Most of the examples you'll see and learn are commands. Commands are operations you run in Vim that can pretty much do everything. For example, the command below, lists the open files:

:ls

Commands can also modify text. For example, the command below would replace all occurrences of the word hello by world in the current buffer:

:%s/hello/world/g

Buffers

Buffers are another essential concept of Vim. You may not have realized it yet but buffers is one of the things in Vim that differs it from traditional text editors.

Every file opened in Vim is opened in a buffer. During that process, Vim copies the contents of that file to memory and uses that until you save your modifications to disk. That way Vim can perform really quick operations on the content you need without reaching the filesystem.

Modes

Modes are another feature that differentiates Vim from traditional text editors and something that's important to comprehend. The most common modes are:

• Normal: Vim's primary mode and the one we use to run commands:
• Insert: the mode where you edit the contents of your files
• Visual: visual selection of contents
• Replace: allows you to type over the text, replacing it
• Command-line: allows you to execute commands via its own command-line prompt
• Visual-block: allows you to make block-level changes (vertical selections and modifications)
• Ex: in this mode Vim emulates the Ex editor and is used mainly for batch processing
• Select: like the visual mode but with more CUA like behavior.

Since there's a lot there to learn, try to stick with Normal and Insert for now. We'll see in detail in future posts how each of the mode works but feel free to use the help as explained on a previous post.

Motions

Another fundamental aspect of Vim is the concept of Motions. Motions are parameters that you pass into your commands or actions moving the cursor around (fore or backwards). Motions is another phenomenal feature of Vim's making it way more powerful than  traditional editors. 

Motions can also be combined with operators (we'll learn more about them in the future) so you can run powerful commands like:

dap

which runs a command that can be read as "delete all paragraph".

Conclusion

On this post we introduced three of the fundamental concepts of Vim: Commands, Buffers, Modes and Motions. If it seems complicated, don't be concerned. It takes years to master Vim but be sure that the more you learn, the more you realize that time is that secret ingredient in getting comfortable, becoming proficient and efficient with Vim.

Learning Vim is like learning a musical instrument. It takes time, effort and discipline but once you master it, the gains are endless. You definitely won't regret.

See Also

• Vim
• Vim's man page
• Why use Vim
• How to get started with Vim
• Learn to learn Vim
• Vimtutor - Your first Vim tutorial
• Installing Vim on Linux
• Installing Vim on Mac
• Vim Modes - All you need to know