9.2. Editing Text Files
Red Hat Linux includes several text editors,
applications that allow you to view and modify plain
text files. Plain text files are files that contain text
without any font or style formatting applied to it, such as system logs
and configuration files.
gedit is a graphical text editor. It can
open, edit, and save plain text files. You can also cut and paste text
to and from other graphical desktop applications, create new text files,
and print files. gedit has a clear and
understandable interface that uses tabs so that you can open more than
one file at the same time without opening more than one
gedit window.
To start gedit, click => => . You can also start
gedit by typing gedit at a
shell prompt.
 | Note |
|---|
| | gedit can only be used in a graphical
desktop environment. |
Once gedit is running, you are presented
with a blank editing area. You can begin using
gedit immediately or click the
Open button to locate the plain text file you
want to edit. The file will load into the main editing area as shown in
Figure 9-8. You can navigate the text file by
clicking and holding the scroll bar on the right edge of the window and
moving your mouse cursor up and down; or, use the arrow keys to navigate
through the text file line-by-line. Press the [Page Up]
and [Page Down] keys to advance the document a page at a
time.
 | Tip |
|---|
| | gedit allows you to open multiple text
files in one window using separate tabs for each file. If you have a
file already open and want to copy text from another file, click
Open, choose the file you want to access, and
the file will open in a new tab within the
gedit window. You can navigate between each
file by clicking on the the tab associated with the particular
filename. |
Once you have modified or written your text file, you can save it by
pressing the Save button in the toolbar, or by
choosing => from
the file menus. If you are writing a new text file, a pop-up window will
prompt you to name the file and save it in the directory of your
choice. If you are editing an existing file, then any changes you make
will automatically appear in the file the next time you open it. You can
also choose => to save an existing file under a new name or in a
different location, which is convenient if, for example, you are editing
a configuration file and you want to test your changes without losing
your original configuration.
For more information about gedit, choose
=> from the
file menus to access the gedit manual.
9.2.1. Shell Prompt Text Editors
If you are not using a graphical desktop and want to read and
modify a text or configuration file, Red Hat Linux includes the
vi (pronounced
vee-eye) text
editor. vi is a simple application that
opens within the shell prompt and allows you to view, search, and
modify text files. To start vi, type
vi at a shell prompt. To open a file with
vi type vi
<filename> at a shell prompt.
By default, vi opens a file in
Normal mode, meaning that you can view and run
built-in commands on the file but you cannot add text to it. To add
text, press [i] (for Insert
mode), which will allow you to make any modifications you need to. To
exit insert mode, press [Esc], and
vi reverts to Normal mode.
To exit vi, press [:]
(which is the vi
command mode) and press [q] then
[Enter]. If you have made changes to the text file that
you want to save, press [:] and type [w]
then [q] to write your changes to the file and exit the
application. If you accidentally made changes to a file and you want
to exit vi without saving the changes, type
[:] and then type [q] followed by
[!], which exits without saving changes.
More information about using vi can be
found by typing man vi at a shell prompt.
