Chapter 6: Visual Block Editing

Visual Block mode selects a rectangle and edits the same column across several lines. For example, turning plain lines into array items requires adding quotes and commas to every line.

Search for /^apple$ in the block below and place the cursor on its a. Then press Ctrl-v 4j $ A ', Esc. Spaces only separate the steps; do not type them.

var myArray = [
apple
banana
cherry
durian
elderberry
];

Here is what happened: Ctrl-v entered Visual Block mode, 4j selected five lines, $ extended each selection to line end, and A appended text at the right edge. While typing ',, only the first line changed visibly; pressing Esc applied the edit to every selected line.

Search for /^apple$ again and use Ctrl-v 4j I ' Esc to insert a quote at the start of all five lines. Each item should now look like 'apple',. If the selection or text is wrong, one u undoes the entire block edit.

Note: I and A are the most useful block-edit commands. Ordinary i and a affect only the cursor position. With uneven line lengths, inspect the selection before changing it.

Block editing fits regular column changes. When each line needs the same multi-step sequence, a macro is usually a better tool.

Next, learn about macros in Vim.