About Vim and the Global Command

Vim and the Global Command: basic structure

This post is not a complete review of Vim’s Global Command but is just a series of personal observations on it.

You can find a good review, written by those who know much more about it than I do, on this page.

With the “Global Command” of Vim (g) you can replicate various ex-commands on multiple lines.

The basic structure of the Global Command is very simple: :g/pattern/command, meaning:

  • : activates the “command mode”.
  • g activates the “global command”.
  • /pattern/ is the “search zone” for matching patterns in the document.
  • /command/ is the command applied to the entire lines where the results are.

The basic structure is, therefore, biphasic: an initial search phase and a command phase.

To demonstrate how this structure works, let’s assume the existence of the following lines:

abc
def
ghi
jkl
mno

If you want to delete the line containing the “a” letter, you can use the following command :g/a/d in which:

  • : is the typical command mode activation character in Vim.

  • a is the search pattern.

  • d is the command (Delete) applied to the entire line where search result is located.

    It’s really simple!

Vim Global Command and the range pattern

If you want to delete a range of lines matching an initial and final pattern, you have to use a slightly more structured global command.

Suppose you have to delete all the lines between the one containing the letter “a” and the one containing the letter “k”.

In this case, a triphasic structure must be used: initial pattern, final pattern and command.

The structure is the following :g/initial_pattern/,/ final_pattern/command

The initial and final patterns are separated by a comma.

In this case, the following formula is used: :g/a/,/k/d

  • a is the initial pattern
  • k is the final pattern
  • d is the command

But if you need to delete only the range starting to the line after the first matching pattern, you must use a +1 option to the initial pattern: :g/a/+1,/k/d.

At the same time, if you have to delete until the range before the final matching pattern, you must use the option -1 after the final pattern: :g/a/,/k/-1d.

Combining the two previous targets: if you have to delete the range starting to the line after the initial matching pattern and until the line before the final matching pattern, you must use both the options +1 and -1: :g/a/+1,/k/-1d.

Various examples

Of course, you can perform all other operations allowed by the global command, including:

  • Delete (as seen above)
  • Substitute
  • Normal
  • Print
  • Move
  • Put
  • Copy
  • Sort

Example with the Normal command: suppose you need to add a blank line after the line with the “a” letter wherever the cursor is along the document.

That’s the solution: :g/a/norm o.

What’s this norm o?

When it finds the target, the formula instructs Vim to apply the normal (norm) mode and virtually type the addition of a line underneath with Vim’s standard o command, which everyone who uses Vim, of course, is already familiar with.

Another target for which you have to add a period at the end of each line.

Here’s how: :g/a/norm A,.

The norm A, command adds a comma at the end of the line.

Endless combinations of commands can be created by the same logic.

Thank you for your attention.