Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ut-sally.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!eagle!harpo!seismo!ut-sally!srini From: srini@ut-sally.UUCP (Srinivasan Sundararajan) Newsgroups: net.unix Subject: Re: vi '_' command Message-ID: <1484@ut-sally.UUCP> Date: Sun, 18-Mar-84 02:13:19 EST Article-I.D.: ut-sally.1484 Posted: Sun Mar 18 02:13:19 1984 Date-Received: Mon, 19-Mar-84 06:55:59 EST References: <1093@cwruecmp.UUCP> Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas Lines: 27 :ab in vi ========= You're right there - it is meant for abbreviations. For instance : ( in command mode ), the command - :ab xy xylophone makes vi automatically expand - xy (to) xylophone as you are typing text. It's not necessary for the "ab"-ed form to be the first few letters of the expanded form. Even this is okay - :ab q xylophone But as you type in the abbreviation, leave a blank after it so that vi will know that it needs to expand. This makes it possible to type in a word like quiet without having it suddenly expanded to - xylophoneuiet !!