Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!peregrine!elroy!ames!mailrus!cwjcc!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!att!chinet!les
From: les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: tough bug in vi
Message-ID: <6995@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 23 Nov 88 18:17:56 GMT
References: <11500001@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu>
Reply-To: les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell)
Organization: Chinet - Public Access Unix
Lines: 25

In article <11500001@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu> phil@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu writes:

>I go into insert mode with "i" and type in some new text.  I then backspace
>over that text with ^H (backspace).  The text is no longer in the buffer
>but is still showing on the screen.  To me this is a serious bug because
>I frequently make mistakes and go back and correct them.  I get totally
>out of whack when I have to work in the blind, or exit insert mode just
>to see what I am doing (and go back in it again).

I guess I have just gotten used to this behaviour - thinking back to when
I first used vi, it bothered me too.  However, it is only a problem when
inserting into an existing line, since when you are inserting into an
empty line you know that there is no "real" text past the cursor position.
Anyway, ESC i will fix everything and is safe to do anytime you want to
be in insert mode.

The real solution is to learn to use the other vi commands and avoid
backspacing beyond the character or word that your cursor is on.  For
example, if you are several words past the one you want to correct it
might be faster to postion back with a search, then use cw to change
it, followed by A to get back to the end of the line.  This also has
the advantage of being repeatable if the word needs to be changed
elsewhere.

Les Mikesell