View source for Enhancing the vi (or vim)

First of all, install vim to replace the vi (if not installed already)

To enable syntax highlighting on vim, type:

 :syntax on

To enable line numbering, type:

 :set number

To enable auto indenting, type:

 :set autoindent

To convert from dos to unix, type:

 :set fileformat=unix 

Or you can edit your ~/.vimrc and type:

 syntax on
 set number
 set autoindent
 set showmatch           " briefly jump to matching bracket when inserting one
 set expandtab           " expand tabs to spaces (use :retab to redo entire file)
 set wrapscan            " allows search to wrap to top of document when the bottom has been hit
 set tabstop=3           " width (in spaces) that a <tab> is displayed as
 set shiftwidth=3        " width (in spaces) used in each step of autoindent