How can I check what version of the VI editor I have?

Question

How can I check what version of the vi editor I have? What's the best way to upgrade it or install vim on Solaris?

score 35 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 24 '11 at 15:38

35

vi has had the :ve[rsion] command going back at least as far as 1979, so it should work on any Solaris release.

answered Oct 24 '11 at 15:38

MetaEd

2

`:ve` did exist in the very first vi version already, released on January 1st, 1978. See https://github.com/n-t-roff/ex-1.1 for the source code the original documentation. – user3224237 Aug 12 '16 at 19:48

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 22 '11 at 02:10

16

The command to show the version is

:version

which can be abbreviated to

:ve

answered Oct 22 '11 at 02:10

Keith Thompson

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited May 29 '12 at 04:21

4

You should try to find the vi version with the package manager:

pkginfo | grep -i vi

or:

pkginfo '*vi*'

edited May 29 '12 at 04:21

Michael Mrozek

answered May 29 '12 at 03:35

fromnaboo

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 23 '14 at 19:05

2

You can simply open the editor by typing

vi

This will open the default page that shows the version number.

answered Nov 23 '14 at 19:05

seqmo

1

This might work for `vim` but does not work for Joy's `vi`. – crw Feb 28 '17 at 13:52

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 24 '11 at 17:02

0

vi --version

should do this job :)

answered Oct 24 '11 at 17:02

Rainer Bendig

Please someone explaining what's wrong with this answer. Thanks. – Paolo Oct 27 '11 at 18:25
3

On Solaris 9, `vi --version` prints `vi: illegal option -- -`. `vim` recognizes the `--version` option; other `vi` implementations, including `nvi`, do not. – Keith Thompson Jan 22 '12 at 23:10
Also this answer does not address the other part of the question: upgrading or installing Vim on Solaris. – MetaEd Jun 26 '12 at 15:56

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 04 '12 at 20:42

0

On Solaris 11 and later releases, vim is now the default version of vi.

answered Aug 04 '12 at 20:42

alanc

6 Answers6