The following list all of the commands that move the buffer pointer (dot). These commands may be used to move dot to a position between any two characters in the buffer, but they will not move dot across a buffer boundary. If any R or C command attempts to move dot backward beyond the beginning of the buffer or forward past the end of the buffer, the command is ignored and an error message is printed. If any L command attempts to exceed the buffer boundaries, dot is positioned at the boundary which would have been exceeded and no error message is printed.
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
| C | Advances dot forward across one character. |
| nC | Executes the C command n times, as follows: If n > 0, dot is moved forward across n characters. If n < 0, dot is moved backward across n characters. If n = 0, dot is not changed. |
| -C | Equivalent to -1C. |
| n:C | Equivalent to nC except that -1 is returned if the command succeeded. If the command failed, 0 is returned and dot is not changed. |
| :C | Equivalent to 1:C. |
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
| nJ | Moves dot to a position immediately following the nth character in the buffer. n must be non-negative. |
| J | Moves dot to a position immediately preceding the first character in the buffer. Equivalent to 0J. |
| ZJ | Moves dot to a position immediately following the last character in the buffer. |
| n:J | Same as the nJ command except that -1 is returned if new position of dot is inside the buffer. If the new position of dot is outside the buffer, 0 is returned and dot is not changed. |
| :J | Equivalent to 0:J. |
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
| L | Advances dot forward across the next line terminator (line feed, vertical tab, or form feed) and positions it at the beginning of the next line. |
| nL | Executes the L command n times, as follows: If n > 0, dot is moved forward n lines. If n < 0, dot is moved backward n lines. If n = 0, dot is moved to the beginning of the line on which it is currently positioned. |
| -L | Equivalent to -1L. |
| Command | Function |
|---|---|
| R | Moves dot backward across one character. Equivalent to -C. |
| nR | Executes the R command n times, as follows: If n > 0, dot is moved backward across n characters. If n < 0, dot is moved forward across n characters. If n = 0, dot is not changed. |
| -R | Equivalent to -1R. |
| n:R | Equivalent to nR except that -1 is returned if the command succeeded. If the command failed, 0 is returned and dot is not changed. |
| :R | Equivalent to 1:R. |