The ls Command
The ls command brings with it a lot to discuss. I haven't yet described the options to ls, yet we have already used this command and the -l option as part of the file command discussion. You can't do much on a UNIX system without ls, so I'll cover it now. The best way to cover the most important options to ls is to show examples. I do just that in the upcoming description of the ls command.
ls
The following is an example of ls without any options other than the directory to list:
# ls /home/denise
27247b.exe
410pt1.exe
410pt2.exe
41ndir.exe
41nds1.exe
41nds4.exe
41nwad.exe
41rtr2.exe
HPDA1.EXE
Mail
N3212B6.EXE
SCSI4S.EXE
clean
clean2
clean3
content.exe
dsenh.exe
eg1
eg2
en0316bz.exe
en0316tb.exe
explore.exe
flexi_cd.exe
fred.h
hal.c
hpdl0117.exe
hpdlinst.txt
hpux.patches
j2577a.exe
ja95up.exe
msie10.exe
n32e12n.exe
nfs197.exe
pass.sb
plusdemo.exe
ps4x03.exe
psg
quik_res.exe
rclock.exe
rkhelp.exe
roni.mak
sb.txt
smsup2.exe
softinit.remotesoftcm
srvpr.exe
steve.h
target.exe
tcp41a.exe
tnds2.exe
upgrade.exe
whoon
win95app.exe
total 46718
Which of these are files? Which are directories? Have all of the entries been listed? There are many options to ls that will answer these questions.
There is not a lot of information reported as a result of having issued this command. ls lists the contents of the directory specified, or the current working directory if no directory is specified.
ls -a
To list all the entries of a directory, you would use the -a option. Files that begin with a "." are called hidden files and are not usually listed with ls. The following example shows the output of ls -a:
$ ls -a /home/denise
.Xauthority
.cshrc
.dt
.dtprofile
.elm
.exrc
.fmrc.orig
.glancerc
.gpmhp
.history
.login
.lrom
.mailrc
.netscape-bookmarks.html
.netscape-cache
.netscape-cookies
.netscape-history
.netscape-newsgroups-news.spry.com
.netscape-newsgroups-newsserv.hp.com
.netscape-preferences
.newsrc-news.spry.com
.newsrc-newsserv.hp.com
.profile
.rhosts
.sh_history
.softbuildrc
.softinit.orig
.sw
.xinitrc
.xsession
27247b.exe
410pt1.exe
410pt2.exe
41ndir.exe
41nds1.exe
41nds4.exe
41nwad.exe
41rtr2.exe
HPDA1.EXE
Mail
N3212B6.EXE
SCSI4S.EXE
clean
clean2
clean3
content.exe
dsenh.exe
eg1
eg2
en0316bz.exe
en0316tb.exe
explore.exe
flexi_cd.exe
fred.h
hal.c
hpdl0117.exe
hpdlinst.txt
hpux.patches
j2577a.exe
ja95up.exe
msie10.exe
n32e12n.exe
nfs197.exe
pass.sb
plusdemo.exe
ps4x03.exe
psg
quik_res.exe
rclock.exe
rkhelp.exe
roni.mak
sb.txt
smsup2.exe
softinit.remotesoftcm
srvpr.exe
steve.h
target.exe
tcp41a.exe
tnds2.exe
upgrade.exe
whoon
win95app.exe
total 46718
Notice that this output includes hidden files, those that begin with a ".", as well as all other files listed with just ls. These did not appear when ls was issued without the -a option. All subsequent examples include the -a option.
ls -l
To list all information about the contents of directory, you use the -l option to ls, as shown in the following example (some of these file names were shortened to fit on the page):
$ ls -al /home/denise
-rw------- 1 denise users 98 Oct 6 09:19 .Xauthority
-r--r--r-- 1 denise users 814 May 19 10:10 .cshrc
drwxr-xr-x 7 denise users 1024 Sep 26 11:14 .dt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 8705 Jul 7 12:04 .dtprofile
drwx------ 2 denise users 1024 Jul 31 18:48 .elm
-r--r--r-- 1 denise users 347 May 19 10:10 .exrc
-rwxrwxrwx 1 denise users 170 Jun 6 14:20 .fmrc.orig
-rw------- 1 denise users 97 Jun 12 18:59 .glancerc
-rw------- 1 denise users 17620 Sep 21 16:11 .gpmhp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 391 Sep 19 09:55 .history
-r--r--r-- 1 denise users 341 May 19 10:10 .login
drwx--x--x 2 denise users 1024 Jul 31 18:48 .lrom
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 768 Jul 28 12:54 .mailrc
-rw------- 1 denise users 1450 Oct 6 13:58 .netscape-bookmarks.html
drwx------ 2 denise users 10240 Oct 10 15:24 .netscape-cache
-rw------- 1 denise users 91 Sep 18 14:16 .netscape-cookies
-rw------- 1 denise users 43906 Oct 10 15:32 .netscape-history
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 566 Aug 25 14:36 .netscape--news.spry.com
-rw------- 1 denise users 46514 Jun 28 12:35 .netscape-.hp.com
-rw------- 1 denise users 1556 Sep 28 15:02 .netscape-preferences
-rw------- 1 denise users 104 Jul 11 11:01 .newsrc-news.spry.com
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 223 Sep 26 13:26 .newsrc-newv.hp.com
-r--r--r-- 1 denise users 446 May 19 10:10 .profile
-rw------- 1 denise users 21 Jul 6 13:21 .rhosts
-rw------- 1 denise users 2328 Oct 10 15:22 .sh_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1052 Sep 22 15:00 .softbuildrc
-rwxrwxrwx 1 denise users 161 Jul 11 12:19 .softinit.orig
drwxr-xr-x 3 denise users 1024 Aug 31 15:44 .sw
-rw------- 1 denise users 23 Jun 2 15:01 .xinitrc
-rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 11251 May 19 10:41 .xsession
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 611488 Oct 3 12:00 27247b.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 114119 Sep 29 12:49 410pt1.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 136979 Sep 29 12:53 410pt2.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 173978 Sep 29 12:40 41ndir.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 363315 Sep 29 12:52 41nds1.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 527524 Sep 29 12:57 41nds4.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1552513 Sep 29 12:50 41nwad.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 853424 Sep 29 12:24 41rtr2.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1363011 Sep 20 12:20 HPDA1.EXE
drwx------ 2 denise users 24 Jul 31 18:48 Mail
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1787840 Aug 31 09:35 N3212B6.EXE
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 13543 Sep 23 09:46 SCSI4S.EXE
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 28395 Aug 30 15:07 cabview.exe
-rwx--x--x 1 denise users 66 Jun 8 17:40 clean
-rwx--x--x 1 denise users 99 Jun 20 17:44 clean2
-rwx--x--x 1 denise users 66 Jun 20 17:51 clean3
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 15365 Aug 30 15:07 content.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 713313 Sep 29 12:56 dsenh.exe
-rwx------ 1 denise users 144 Aug 14 17:10 eg1
-rwx------ 1 denise users 192 Aug 15 12:13 eg2
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 667890 Sep 20 12:41 en0316bz.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 641923 Sep 20 12:42 en0316tb.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 6251 Aug 30 15:07 explore.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 23542 Aug 30 15:08 flexi_cd.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 30 Aug 14 17:02 fred.h
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 0 Aug 14 17:24 hal.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 895399 Sep 20 12:32 hpdl0117.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14135 Sep 20 12:39 hpdlinst.txt
-rw------- 1 denise users 2943 Jun 19 14:42 hpux.patches
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 680279 Sep 20 12:26 j2577a.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 930728 Sep 20 15:16 ja95up.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 53575 Oct 10 10:37 mbox
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1097728 Aug 30 15:03 msie10.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1790376 Sep 18 14:32 n32e12n.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1393835 Sep 29 12:59 nfs197.exe
-rw------- 1 denise users 977 Jul 3 14:25 pass.sb
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1004544 Aug 30 15:00 plusdemo.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 229547 Sep 29 12:27 ps4x03.exe
-rwxr--r-- 1 denise users 171 Aug 9 13:43 psg
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 16645 Aug 30 15:08 quik_res.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14544 Aug 30 15:08 rclock.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 2287498 Aug 30 15:12 rkhelp.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 0 Aug 15 12:10 roni.mak
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1139 Sep 28 10:35 sb.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 569855 Sep 29 12:55 smsup2.exe
-rw------- 1 root sys 161 Jul 11 12:18 softinit.remotesoftcm
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 39 Sep 29 12:48 srvpr.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 38 Aug 15 12:14 steve.h
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14675 Aug 30 15:08 target.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 229630 Sep 29 12:54 tcp41a.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1954453 Sep 29 12:26 tnds2.exe
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 364270 Sep 23 09:50 upgrade.exe
-rwx-----x 1 denise users 88 Aug 9 13:43 whoon
-rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 191495 Aug 30 15:00 win95app.exe
total 46718
Because I find this to be the most commonly used option with the ls command, I describe each of the fields produced by ls -l. I'll use the earlier example of the ls -l command, which showed only one file when describing the fields:
$ ls -l sort
-rwxr-x--x 1 marty users 120 Jul 26 10:20 sort
The first field defines the access rights of the file, which I cover in "Permissions" in the next chapter. The owner has read, write, and execute permissions on the file. The group has read and execute permissions on the file. other has execute permissions.
The second field is the link count. This lists how many files are symbolically linked to the file. We will get into the details of the ln command used to link files later. In this case, the link count is 1, which means that this file is linked only to itself. For directories such as .dt shown below, the number of subdirectories is shown rather than the link count. This number includes one for the directory itself as well as one for the parent directory. This means that a total of five directories are below .dt.
drwxr-x--x 7 denise users 1024 Jul 26 10:20 .dt
The subdirectories below /home/denise/.dt are:
/home/denise/.dt/Desktop
/home/denise/.dt/appmanager
/home/denise/.dt/palettes
/home/denise/.dt/sessions
/home/denise/.dt/types
These five subdirectories plus the directory itself and the parent directory make a total of seven.
The third field lists the owner of the file. Your login name, such as denise, is listed here. When you create a file, your login name is listed by default as the owner of the file.
The fourth field lists the group to which the file belongs. Groups are covered in the next chapter in "Permissions."
The fifth field shows the size of the file. The file sort is 120 bytes in size.
The sixth field (which includes a date and time such as Jul 26 10:20) lists the date and time the file was created or last changed.
The seventh field lists the files and directories in alphabetical order. You first see the files that begin with a ".", then the files that begin with numbers, then the files that begin with uppercase letters, and finally the files that begin with lower case letters. There are a lot of characters that a file can begin with in UNIX, so if you perform an ls -l and don't see the file you are looking for, it may appear at a different spot in the listing from what you expected.
ls -i
To get information about the inode of a file, you use the -i option to ls. The following example includes both the -i and -l options to ls:
$ls -ail /home/denise
137717 -rw------- 1 denise users 98 Oct 6 09:19 .Xauthority
137623 -r--r--r-- 1 denise users 814 May 19 10:10 .cshrc
140820 drwxr-xr-x 7 denise users 1024 Sep 26 11:14 .dt
137629 -rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 8705 Jul 7 12:04 .dtprofile
180815 drwx------ 2 denise users 1024 Jul 31 18:48 .elm
137624 -r--r--r-- 1 denise users 347 May 19 10:10 .exrc
137652 -rwxrwxrwx 1 denise users 170 Jun 6 14:20 .fmrc.orig
137650 -rw------- 1 denise users 97 Jun 12 18:59 .glancerc
137699 -rw------- 1 denise users 17620 Sep 21 16:11 .gpmhp
137640 -rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 391 Sep 19 09:55 .history
137625 -r--r--r-- 1 denise users 341 May 19 10:10 .login
185607 drwx--x--x 2 denise users 1024 Jul 31 18:48 .lrom
137642 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 768 Jul 28 12:54 .mailrc
137641 -rw------- 1 denise users 1450 Oct 6 13:58 .netscaperks.html
179207 drwx------ 2 denise users 10240 Oct 10 15:24 .netscape-cache
137656 -rw------- 1 denise users 91 Sep 18 14:16 .netscape-cookies
137635 -rw------- 1 denise users 43906 Oct 10 15:32 .netscape-history
137645 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 566 Aug 25 14:36 .netscapes.spry.com
137646 -rw------- 1 denise users 46514 Jun 28 12:35 .netsca
137634 -rw------- 1 denise users 1556 Sep 28 15:02 .netscaperences
137637 -rw------- 1 denise users 104 Jul 11 11:01 .newsrcws.spry.com
137633 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 223 Sep 26 13:26 .newsrc-hp.com
137626 -r--r--r-- 1 denise users 446 May 19 10:10 .profile
137649 -rw------- 1 denise users 21 Jul 6 13:21 .rhosts
137694 -rw------- 1 denise users 2328 Oct 10 15:22 .sh_history
137698 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1052 Sep 22 15:00 .softbuildrc
137636 -rwxrwxrwx 1 denise users 161 Jul 11 12:19 .softinit.orig
33600 drwxr-xr-x 3 denise users 1024 Aug 31 15:44 .sw
137648 -rw------- 1 denise users 23 Jun 2 15:01 .xinitrc
137628 -rwxr-xr-x 1 denise users 11251 May 19 10:41 .xsession
137715 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 611488 Oct 3 12:00 27247b.exe
137707 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 114119 Sep 29 12:49 410pt1.exe
137710 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 136979 Sep 29 12:53 410pt2.exe
137705 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 173978 Sep 29 12:40 41ndir.exe
137709 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 363315 Sep 29 12:52 41nds1.exe
137714 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 527524 Sep 29 12:57 41nds4.exe
137708 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1552513 Sep 29 12:50 41nwad.exe
137696 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 853424 Sep 29 12:24 41rtr2.exe
137654 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1363011 Sep 20 12:20 HPDA1.EXE
182429 drwx------ 2 denise users 24 Jul 31 18:48 Mail
137683 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1787840 Aug 31 09:35 N3212B6.EXE
137702 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 13543 Sep 23 09:46 SCSI4S.EXE
137638 -rwx--x--x 1 denise users 66 Jun 8 17:40 clean
137651 -rwx--x--x 1 denise users 99 Jun 20 17:44 clean2
137632 -rwx--x--x 1 denise users 66 Jun 20 17:51 clean3
137688 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 15365 Aug 30 15:07 content.exe
137713 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 713313 Sep 29 12:56 dsenh.exe
137667 -rwx------ 1 denise users 144 Aug 14 17:10 eg1
137671 -rwx------ 1 denise users 192 Aug 15 12:13 eg2
137662 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 667890 Sep 20 12:41 en0316bz.exe
137665 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 641923 Sep 20 12:42 en0316tb.exe
137689 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 6251 Aug 30 15:07 explore.exe
137690 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 23542 Aug 30 15:08 flexi_cd.exe
137670 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 30 Aug 14 17:02 fred.h
137673 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 0 Aug 14 17:24 hal.c
137660 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 895399 Sep 20 12:32 hpdl0117.exe
137661 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14135 Sep 20 12:39 hpdlinst.txt
137647 -rw------- 1 denise users 2943 Jun 19 14:42 hpux.patches
137659 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 680279 Sep 20 12:26 j2577a.exe
137697 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 930728 Sep 20 15:16 ja95up.exe
137684 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1097728 Aug 30 15:03 msie10.exe
137658 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1790376 Sep 18 14:32 n32e12n.exe
137643 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1393835 Sep 29 12:59 nfs197.exe
137639 -rw------- 1 denise users 977 Jul 3 14:25 pass.sb
137664 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1004544 Aug 30 15:00 plusdemo.exe
137704 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 229547 Sep 29 12:27 ps4x03.exe
137666 -rwxr--r-- 1 denise users 171 Aug 9 13:43 psg
137691 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 16645 Aug 30 15:08 quik_res.exe
137692 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14544 Aug 30 15:08 rclock.exe
137693 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 2287498 Aug 30 15:12 rkhelp.exe
137669 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 0 Aug 15 12:10 roni.mak
137657 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1139 Sep 28 10:35 sb.txt
137712 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 569855 Sep 29 12:55 smsup2.exe
137644 -rw------- 1 root sys 161 Jul 11 12:18 softinittesoftcm
137706 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 39 Sep 29 12:48 srvpr.exe
137682 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 38 Aug 15 12:14 steve.h
137685 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 14675 Aug 30 15:08 target.exe
137711 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 229630 Sep 29 12:54 tcp41a.exe
137700 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 1954453 Sep 29 12:26 tnds2.exe
137703 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 364270 Sep 23 09:50 upgrade.exe
137663 -rwx-----x 1 denise users 88 Aug 9 13:43 whoon
137678 -rw-r--r-- 1 denise users 191495 Aug 30 15:00 win95app.exe
The inode number contains the following: the location of files and directories on the disk; access permissions; owner and group IDs; file link count; time of last modification; time of last access; device identification number for special files; and a variety of other information. inode numbers are used extensively by the system as you change directories and perform various tasks.
ls -p
Because you may have subdirectories within the directory you are listing, you may want to use the -p option to ls, which puts a "/" (slash) in after directory names, as shown in the following example:
$ ls -ap /home/denise
.Xauthority
.cshrc
.dt/
.dtprofile
.elm/
.exrc
.fmrc.orig
.glancerc
.gpmhp
.history
.login
.lrom/
.mailrc
.netscape-bookmarks.html
.netscape-cache/
.netscape-cookies
.netscape-history
.netscape-newsgroups-news.spry.com
.netscape-newsgroups-newsserv.hp.com
.netscape-preferences
.newsrc-news.spry.com
.newsrc-newsserv.hp.com
.profile
.rhosts
.sh_history
.softbuildrc
.softinit.orig
.sw/
.xinitrc
.xsession
27247b.exe
410pt1.exe
410pt2.exe
41ndir.exe
41nds1.exe
41nds4.exe
41nwad.exe
41rtr2.exe
HPDA1.EXE
Mail/
N3212B6.EXE
SCSI4S.EXE
clean
clean2
clean3
content.exe
dsenh.exe
eg1
eg2
en0316bz.exe
en0316tb.exe
explore.exe
flexi_cd.exe
fred.h
hal.c
hpdl0117.exe
hpdlinst.txt
hpux.patches
j2577a.exe
ja95up.exe
msie10.exe
n32e12n.exe
nfs197.exe
pass.sb
plusdemo.exe
ps4x03.exe
psg
quik_res.exe
rclock.exe
rkhelp.exe
roni.mak
sb.txt
smsup2.exe
softinit.remotesoftcm
srvpr.exe
steve.h
target.exe
tcp41a.exe
tnds2.exe
upgrade.exe
whoon
win95app.exe
ls -R
Because the subdirectories you are listing probably have files and subdirectories beneath them, you may want to recursively list these. The -R option to ls shown in the following example performs this recursive listing. This listing is truncated because it would be too long if it included all the subdirectories under /home/denise:
$ ls -aR /home/denise
.Xauthority
.cshrc
.dt
.dtprofile
.elm
.exrc
.fmrc.orig
.glancerc
.gpmhp
.history
.login
.lrom
.mailrc
.netscape-bookmarks.html
.netscape-cache
.netscape-cookies
.netscape-history
.netscape-newsgroups-news.spry.com
.netscape-newsgroups-newsserv.hp.com
.netscape-preferences
.newsrc-news.spry.com
.newsrc-newsserv.hp.com
.profile
.rhosts
.sh_history
.softbuildrc
.softinit.orig
.sw
.xinitrc
.xsession
27247b.exe
410pt1.exe
410pt2.exe
41ndir.exe
41nds1.exe
41nds4.exe
41nwad.exe
41rtr2.exe
HPDA1.EXE
Mail
N3212B6.EXE
SCSI4S.EXE
clean
clean2
clean3
content.exe
dsenh.exe
eg1
eg2
en0316bz.exe
en0316tb.exe
explore.exe
flexi_cd.exe
fred.h
.
. (skip some of the listing)
.
/home/denise/.lrom:
LRAAAa27637.CC
LRBAAa27637.CC
LROM.AB
LROM.AB.OLD
LROM.AB.lk1
LROM.SET
/home/denise/.netscape-cache:
cache306C05510015292.gif
cache306C05560025292.gif
cache306C05560035292.gif
/home/denise/.sw:
sessions
.
. (skip remainder of the listing)
.
ls Summary
I have shown you what I believe to be the most important, and most often used, ls options. Because you may have future needs to list files and directories based on other criteria, I provide you with a list of most ls options. There is no substitute, however, for issuing the man ls command. Whatever I provide is only a summary. Viewing the man pages for ls gives you much more information. The following is a summary of the more commonly used ls options:
ls - List the contents of a directory
| Options | ||
|---|---|---|
| -a | List all entries. | |
| -b | Print non-graphic characters. | |
| -c | Use the time the file was last modified for producing order in which files are listed. | |
| -d | List only the directory name, not its contents. | |
| -f | Assume that each argument is a directory. | |
| -g | Only the group is printed and not the owner. | |
| -i | Print the inode number in the first column of the report. | |
| -m | List the contents across the screen, separated by commas. | |
| -n | Numbers for UID and GID are printed instead of names. | |
| -o | List the information in long form (-l), except that group is omitted. | |
| -p | Put a slash (/) at the end of directory names. | |
| -q | Non-printing characters are represented by a "?". | |
| -r | Reverse the order in which files are printed. | |
| -s | Show the size in blocks instead of bytes. | |
| -t | List in order of time saved, with most recent first. | |
| -u | Use the time of last access instead of last modification for determining order in which files are printed. | |
| -x | List files in multi-column format as shown in examples. | |
| -A | Same as -a, except that current and parent directories aren't listed (only used on some UNIX variants). | |
| -C | Multicolumn output produced. | |
| -F | Directory followed by a "/", executable by an "*", symbolic link by an "@", and FIFO by a "|". | |
| -L | List file or directory to which link points. | |
| -R | Recursively list subdirectories. | |
| -1 | Output will be listed in single-column format. | |
Also, some shorthand command names are available for issuing ls with options. For instance, ll is equivalent to ls -l, and lsr is equivalent to ls -R in some UNIX variants. We will also cover creating an "alias," whereby you can define your own shorthand for any command in an upcoming chapter.