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Equivalent to Windows' ''dir''. Somebody should write a short article demonstrating its use and the more commonly used flags, and also a very brief treatise on how to use it with [[grep]] to good effect. | Equivalent to Windows' ''dir''. Somebody should write a short article demonstrating its use and the more commonly used flags, and also a very brief treatise on how to use it with [[grep]] to good effect. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Most common flags: | ||
| + | -a -- lists ''all'' files, including hidden files | ||
| + | -l -- gives long listing, including [[permissions]], [[owner]], [[group]] and size | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[ls]] can (and is) used in conjunction with [[grep]] by using a [[pipe]] to send [[ls]] output -- which can easily fill your screen with enough entries to make you cross-eyed -- to more easily find what you're looking for. To give an example, let's say you're looking for a file that begins with '''name''' in your /etc directory. Doing an '''ls /etc''' gives you far too many entries and '''la -l''' the same thing but scrolling past you even faster. You could do a | ||
| + | ls | more | ||
| + | and look for all files that begin with '''name'''. But why waste your time going over each entry? | ||
| + | ls -la | grep name | ||
| + | will give you a long list of all files that have '''name''' in them. | ||
| + | |||
[[Category:System Commands]] | [[Category:System Commands]] | ||
Revision as of 02:31, 28 August 2004
Equivalent to Windows' dir. Somebody should write a short article demonstrating its use and the more commonly used flags, and also a very brief treatise on how to use it with grep to good effect.
Most common flags:
-a -- lists all files, including hidden files -l -- gives long listing, including permissions, owner, group and size
ls can (and is) used in conjunction with grep by using a pipe to send ls output -- which can easily fill your screen with enough entries to make you cross-eyed -- to more easily find what you're looking for. To give an example, let's say you're looking for a file that begins with name in your /etc directory. Doing an ls /etc gives you far too many entries and la -l the same thing but scrolling past you even faster. You could do a
ls | more
and look for all files that begin with name. But why waste your time going over each entry?
ls -la | grep name
will give you a long list of all files that have name in them.
