Linux for Education

Linux commands

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Command:

ls 		Show listing of current directory

http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/ls.html



Description of commmand / detailed explanation:
Files are documents, images or programs on your computer. Directories are like boxes that hold the files. You are always considered to be within some directory. Most of the time, commands only act on the files within the directory in which you are located. So, when you list using ls, you get a list of all of the files in the directory that you are in, not all of the files in the computer.

There may be no files visible in your home directory, in which case, the UNIX prompt will be returned. Alternatively, there may already be some files inserted by the System Administrator when your account was created.

ls does not, in fact, cause all the files in your home directory to be listed, but only those ones whose name does not begin with a dot (.) Files beginning with a dot (.) are known as hidden files and usually contain important program configuration information. They are hidden because you should not change them unless you are very familiar with UNIX!!!

ls has a miriad of options, check the usage for its options
Command options:
-a Shows you all files, even files that are hidden (these files begin with a dot.)
-A List all files including the hidden files. However, does not display the working directory (.) or the parent directory (..).
-b Force printing of non-printable characters to be in octal \ddd notation.
-c Use time of last modification of the i-node (file created, mode changed, and so forth) for sorting (-t) or printing (-l or -n).
-C Multi-column output with entries sorted down the columns. Generally this is the default option.
-d If an argument is a directory it only lists its name not its contents.
-f Force each argument to be interpreted as a directory and list the name found in each slot. This option turns off -l, -t, -s, and -r, and turns on -a; the order is the order in which entries appear in the directory.
-F Mark directories with a trailing slash (/), doors with a trailing greater-than sign (>), executable files with a trailing asterisk (*), FIFOs with a trailing vertical bar (|), symbolic links with a trailing at-sign (@), and AF_Unix address family sockets with a trailing equals sign (=).
-g Same as -l except the owner is not printed.
-i For each file, print the i-node number in the first column of the report.
-l Shows you huge amounts of information (permissions, owners, size, and when last modified.)
-L If an argument is a symbolic link, list the file or directory the link references rather than the link itself.
-m Stream output format; files are listed across the page, separated by commas.
-n The same as -l, except that the owner's UID and group's GID numbers are printed, rather than the associated character strings.
-o The same as -l, except that the group is not printed.
-p Displays a slash ( / ) in front of all directories.
-q Force printing of non-printable characters in file names as the character question mark (?).
-r Reverses the order of how the files are displayed.
-R Includes the contents of subdirectories.
-s Give size in blocks, including indirect blocks, for each entry.
-t Shows you the files in modification time.
-u Use time of last access instead of last modification for sorting (with the -t option) or printing (with the -l option).
-x Displays files in columns.



How to use it: ls [-ACFRSacdfiklmnpqrstux1] [-H|-L] [-go] [file...]
Typical Usage Examples:

% ls -a - As you can see, ls -a lists files that are normally hidden. ls -a

ls ~ - List the contents of your home directory by adding a tilde after the ls command.

ls / - List the contents of your root directory.

ls ../ - List the contents of the parent directory.

ls */ - List the contents of all sub directories.

ls -d */ -Only list the directories in the current directory.


Available in:

debian
fedora
gentoo
suse
mandriva
ubuntu
 Related commands:

  • chmod
  • df
  • diff
  • du
  • file
  • stat
  • tree
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