Slackware Linux Essentials
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16.3 Opening -Files

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vi allows you to open files from command mode as well as -specifying a file on the command line to open. To open the file /etc/lilo.conf:

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-:e /etc/lilo.conf
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If you have made changes to the current buffer without saving, vi will complain. You can still open the file without saving the -current buffer by typing :e!, followed by a space and the filename. -In general, vi's warnings can be suppressed by following the -command with an exclamation mark.

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If you want to reopen the current file, you can do so simply by typing e!. This is particularly useful if you have somehow messed up the file -and want to reopen it.

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Some vi clones (for example, vim) -allow for multiple buffers to be open at the same time. For example, to open up the file -09-vi.sgml in my home directory while another file was open, I -would type:

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-:split ~/09-vi.sgml
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The new file is displayed on the top half of the screen, and the old file is displayed -in the bottom half of the screen. There are a lot of commands that manipulate the split -screen, and many of these commands start to resemble something out of Emacs The best place to look up these commands would be the man page -for your vi clone. Note that many clones do not support the split-screen idea, so you -might not be able to use it at all.

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