3.3. Visual Mode

Visual mode

Vim 101 visual mode

vimdoc visual

Practical vim Tip #21

v # per character, this v is actually toggling normal and character-wise visual mode
V # linewise, Switch to Normal mode
<C-v) # blockwise
gv # reselect the last visual selection

# select4 lines above
4k

# select 3 lines below
3j

# select 2 words
2w

# go back to the previous visual mode
gv

# go back to the other end
o # or O
vbb # Start from the beginning of a word, change to character-wise visual mode, go back two words, the cursor is on the far left
o # to move the cursor to the other end
e # to select upto the end of the word

# operators help
:h visual-operators

Using a visual operator

Tip 23

# vit means visually select inside the tag
# This will highlight one in <a href="#">one</a>
vit
# convert the selected characters to uppercase
U
# down and repeat
j.

The above will work for the same number of letters. If a word is longer than the first one, it will convert partially.

# Normal mode equivalent of U is gU{motion}, h:gU
gUit
j.
j.

This will change any length of words.

Example of visual block mode

# change to visual block and select 3 lines 
<C-v>3j
# delete a character and repeate it
x...
# reselect 
gv
# replace the selected by pipes
r|
# yank a line and paste it
yyp
# select a line and replace all characters with -
Vr-

Append after a ragged visual block

# change to visual-block mode and extend the selection to the end of each line by pressing $
<C-v>jj$
# append
A;
# escape
<Esc>