cse15l-lab-reports

Lab Report Week 7

In this lab report we explore how to use vim to change files.

Part 1: start parameter to base

The sequence of code I used to perform this command is as follows:

/start <enter> ce base <esc> n . n . n .  :wq <enter>

Our first set of keys, /start <enter>, will find all the instances of the word (and therefore the variable) start, allowing us to reach each one with ease. Pressing enter lets our cursor move to this location. We have found the first instance of start. Pressing <enter> moves our cursor there.

The keys ce base allow us to replace the word to base. ce allows us to replace the word from the location of the cursor until the end of the word, but since our cursor is at the front of the word, it will change the whole word. We are then in insert mode and can change the variable to base. Pressing <esc> will take us out of insert mode. ce gets rid of the entire word and leaves the cursor where it is. We can see at the bottom that we are in insert mode. We can then type base to replace the word.

We can then press n . repeatedly until each instance of start has been change. n, which is related to our call to search (/) we made earlier, will bring the cursor to all the instances of start, and the . will repeat the last command we did, which, in our case is ce base (changes the word to base). Typing n has found the next instance of start. Typing dot repeats the change command we did previously. All instances of base have now been changed.

We can then press :wq <enter> to save and quit.

Part 2: Timing: vim vs scp

Editing with vim: 0:41
Editing with scp: 1:16
(times are in minutes)

It would take time to get used to all the commands vim has, but to run remotely it would be much easier to use vim rather than scp because it allows us to not worry about the directory the file has to go into when being copied.
I think the reason above (running remotely) would make me lean towards using vim when having to run programs remotely. Since I have a windows computer, however, I would not use vim to edit local files, so if that was a necessary part of the task I would scp.