**The VIsual Screen Editor**

VI has three modes: input mode, cursor movement and command mode.  Movement of the cursor around the buffer is done with keys h, j, k and l aka [[VI Keys]].  The default mode is command mode.  From there you can type i or a to insert or append data in the editing buffer.  Press <ESC> to return to cursor movement mode and press //:// to enter command mode.

^Command ^Description^
|r|//r//read in a file|
|q|//q//uit - you can combine commands, like //:wq// to write and quit|
|w|//w//rite a file - a //:wq!// will force a write and quit|
|s|//s//earch - try s/old/new/g|