what is ^@ character in vi?
.htaccess, apache, unix, vi, vim
Solution
As the comments say `^@` is actually a null byte (`\x00`) in your file.
If you want to get rid of all null byte instances then you can use this command in `vi`:
:%s/[\x0]//g
Problem
I am seeing a lot of `^@` character in a contents of a text file on my UNIX server. I am unable to understand what does `^@` mean? and how to remove them from the file? and above all why it is generated? If i try to see the contents of the file using `cat` , I am getting this: ``` u3210#"! utypyado ``` however if try to use `cat -v` , i am getting `^@` characters (as attached screenshot) along with some text in english. Same output is observed when i use `vi` with `:set list` command. Any help is much appreciated , thanks very much in advance.