File Management
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The following is a summary of common UNIX commands used for file management.
Most of the commands are self-explanatory, yet have more advanced options.
See the chapter Getting Ahead for more information, or consult the man
pages.
- cat file1 file2 ...
- sends the contents of one or more text
files to standard output (usually the screen). Be sure not to cat
binary files (executables).
- more file1 ...
- displays the contents of a file a screenful
at a time. SPACE shows next screenful, b shows previous
screenful, RETURN shows next line, ? brings up a help list,
and q quits viewing.
- less file1 ...
- an enhanced version of more. (Yes,
less has more than more.) Extra features include use of arrow keys for
scrolling, g goes to beginning of file, G goes to the end, and
h brings up a help screen.
- cd path
- changes directory to path.
- ls [dir]
- lists the files of dir or the current directory
if no argument is given.
- pwd
- prints working directory.
- cp source destination
- copies a file.
- mv source destination
- moves a file. If both source and
destination files have the same path, then this command is equivalent
to renaming the file.
- rm file
- removes a file.
- mkdir dir
- creates a directory of the name dir.
- rmdir dir
- removes a directory of the name dir if it is
empty.
Caitlin Howell
Thu Jan 16 20:24:40 CST 1997