How can I delete all lines in a file using vi?At moment I do that using something like this to remove all lines in a file:echo > test.txtHow can I delete all lines using vi?Note:Using dd is not a good option. There can be many lines.
How can I delete all lines in a file using vi?
vi
In vi do:1,$dto delete all lines. The : introduces a command (and moves the cursor to the bottom).The 1,$ is an indication of which lines the following command (d) should work on. In this case the range from line one to the last line (indicated by $, so you don't need to know the number of lines in the document).The final d stands for delete the indicated lines.There is a shorter form (:%d) but I find myself never using it. The :1,$d can be more easily adapted to e.g. :4,$-2d leaving only the first 3 and last 2 lines, deleting the rest.