A command file contains a number of commands that can be executed as if they were typed in a vi session. For example, you might use vi to create a file with the contents:

set wrapmargin=8
set tabstop=5
set shiftwidth=5
ab www World Wide Web

This sets all the options you want to use and all the abbreviations you need. The file can only contain instructions that normally start with a colon (:) in vi, but you omit the colons in the command file. During a vi session, you can execute all the instructions in the command file with the instruction:

:so cmdfile

where cmdfile is the name of your command file. so stands for source, and it tells vi that the given file should be taken as the source of a number of commands.

You can execute the commands in a command file when you first start vi. Start vi with the command:

vi -c 'so cmdfile' filename

where cmdfile is the name of your command file and filename is the name of the file you want to edit. You might want to set up an alias for vi -c 'so cmdfile'; for example:

alias vic="vi -c 'so cmdfile'"