How do I join two lines in vi?
VimViVim Problem Overview
I have two lines in a text file like below:
S<Switch_ID>_F<File type>
_ID<ID number>_T<date+time>_O<Original File name>.DAT
I want to append the two lines in vi like below:
S<Switch_ID>_F<File type>_ID<ID number>_T<date+time>_O<Original File name>.DAT
The second line got deleted and the contents of the second line was appended to the first line.
How could I do it using command mode in vi?
Vim Solutions
Solution 1 - Vim
Shift+J removes the line change character from the current line, so by pressing "J" at any place in the line you can combine the current line and the next line in the way you want.
Solution 2 - Vim
Vi or Vim?
Anyway, the following command works for Vim in 'nocompatible' mode. That is, I suppose, almost pure vi.
:join!
If you want to do it from normal command use
gJ
With 'gJ' you join lines as is -- without adding or removing whitespaces:
S<Switch_ID>_F<File type>
_ID<ID number>_T<date+time>_O<Original File name>.DAT
Result:
S<Switch_ID>_F<File type>_ID<ID number>_T<date+time>_O<Original File name>.DAT
With 'J' command you will have:
S<Switch_ID>_F<File type> _ID<ID number>_T<date+time>_O<Original File name>.DAT
Note space between type> and _ID.
Solution 3 - Vim
This should do it:
J
Solution 4 - Vim
In vi, J (that's Shift + J) or :join should do what you want, for the most part. Note that they adjust whitespace. In particular, you'll end up with a space between the two joined lines in many cases, and if the second line is indented that indentation will be removed prior to joining.
In Vim you can also use gJ (G, then Shift + J) or :join!. These will join lines without doing any whitespace adjustments.
In Vim, see :help J for more information.
Solution 5 - Vim
Just replace the "\n" with "".
In vi/Vim for every line in the document:
%s/>\n_/>_/g
If you want to confirm every replacement:
%s/>\n_/>_/gc
Solution 6 - Vim
If you want to join the selected lines (you are in visual mode), then just press gJ to join your lines with no spaces whatsoever.
This is described in greater detail on the vi/Vim Stack Exchange site.
Solution 7 - Vim
Press Shift + 4 ("$") on the first line, then Shift + j ("J").
And if you want help, go into vi, and then press F1.
Solution 8 - Vim
In Vim you can also use gJ.
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Solution 9 - Vim
Another way of joining two lines without placing cursor to that line is:
:6,6s#\n##
Here 6 is the line number to which another line will be join. To display the line number, use :set nu.
If we are on the cursor where the next line should be joined, then:
:s#\n##
In both cases we don't need g like :s#\n##g, because on one line only one \n exist.