ls

ls Command
 


Purpose

Displays the contents of a directory.

Syntax



To Display Contents of Directory or Name of File

ls [ -1 ] [ -A ] [ -C ] [ -F ] [ -L ] [ -N ] [ -R ]
[ -a ] [ -b ] [ -c ] [ -d ] [ -e ] [ -f ] [ -g ] [
-i ] [ -l ] [-m ] [ -n ] [ -o ] [ -p ] [ -q ] [ -r 
] [ -s ] [ -t ] [ -u ] [ -x ] [ File ... ]

To Display Contents of Directory

ls -f [ -C ] [ -d ] [ -i ] [ -m ] [ -s ] [ -x ] [ -1
] [ Directory ... ]

Description

The ls command writes to standard output the contents of each specified
Directory parameter or the name of each specified File parameter,
along with any other information you ask for with the flags. If you
do not specify a File or Directory parameter, the ls command displays
the contents of the current directory.

Specifying more than one of the options in the mutually exclusive
pairs is not considered an error. The last option specified in each
pair determines the output format.

By default, the ls command displays all information in alphabetic
order by file name. The collating sequence is determined by the LANG
or LC_COLLATE environment variable. The "National Language Support
Overview for Programming" in AIX Version 4.1 General Programming Concepts:
Writing and Debugging Programs contains more details.

When the ls command displays the contents of a directory, it does
not show entries for files whose names begin with a . (dot) unless
you use the -a or -A flag. If the command is executed by root, it
uses the -A flag by default.

There are three main ways to format the output:

*	List one entry per line.

*	List entries in multiple columns by specifying either the
-C or -x flag. The -C flag is the default format when output is to
a tty. The ls command displays single column output if file or directory
names are too long.

*	List entries in a comma-separated series by specifying the
-m flag.

To determine the number of character positions in the output line,
the ls command uses the COLUMNS environment variable. If this variable
is not set, the command gets the current column value of the display.
If the ls command cannot determine the number of character positions
by either of these methods, it uses a default value of 80.

The mode displayed with the -e and -l flags is interpreted as follows:

If the first character is:

d	The entry is a directory.

b	The entry is a block special file.

c	The entry is a character special file.

l	The entry is a symbolic link, and either the -N flag was specified
or the symbolic link did not point to an existing file.

p	The entry is a first-in,first-out (FIFO) special file.

s	The entry is a local socket.

-	The entry is an ordinary file.

The next nine characters are divided into three sets of three characters
each. The first set of three characters show the owner's permission.
The next set of three characters show the permission of the other
users in the group. The last set of three characters shows the permission
of anyone else with access to the file. The three characters in each
set indicate, respectively, read, write, and execute permission of
the file. Execute permission of a directory lets you search a directory
for a specified file.

Permissions are indicated as follows:

r	Read

w	Write (edit)

x	Execute (search)

-	Corresponding permission not granted

The group-execute permission character is s if the file has set-group-ID
mode. The user-execute permission character is s if the file has set-user-ID
mode. The last character of the mode (normally x or -) is T if the
01000 (octal) bit of the mode is set (see the chmod command for the
meaning of this mode). The indications of set-ID and 01000 bit of
the mode are capitalized (S and T, respectively) if the corresponding
execute permission is not set.

The mode displayed with the -e flag is the same as with the -l flag,
except for the addition of an 11th character interpreted as follows:

+	Indicates a file has extended security information. For example,
the file may have extended ACL, TCB, or TP attributes in the mode.

The access control information (ACL) of a file is displayed by using
the aclget command. The value of the TCB and TP attributes are displayed
by using the chtcb command.

-	Indicates a file does not have extended security information.

When the size of the files in a directory are listed, the ls command
displays a total count of blocks, including indirect blocks.

Flags

-A	Lists all entries except . (dot) and .. (dot-dot).

-a	Lists all entries in the directory, including the entries that
begin with a . (dot).

-b	Displays nonprintable characters in an octal (\nnn) notation.

-c	Uses the time of last modification of the i-node for either sorting
(when used with the -t flag) or for displaying (when used with the
-l flag). This flag must be used with either the -t or -l flag, or
both.

-C	Sorts output vertically in a multicolumn format. This is the default
method when output is to a terminal.

-d	Displays only the information for the directory named. Directories
are treated like files, which is helpful when using the -l flag to
get the status of a directory.

-e	Displays the mode (including security information), number of links,
owner, group, size (in bytes), time of last modification, and name
of each file. If the file is a special file, the size field contains
the major and minor device numbers. If the file is a symbolic link,
the path name of the linked-to file is printed preceded by a -> (minus,
greater than) sign. The attributes of the symbolic link are displayed.

-f	Lists the name in each slot for each directory specified in the
Directory parameter. This flag turns off the -l, -t, -s, and -r flags,
and turns on the -a flag. The order of the listing is the order in
which entries appear in the directory.

-F	Puts a / (slash) after each file name if the file is a directory,
an * (asterisk) if the file can be executed, an = (equal sign) if
the file is a socket, a | (pipe) sign if the file is a FIFO, and an
@ for a symbolic link.

Note:	Symbolic links are displayed with the trailing -> only if the
-N flag is used or if the link points to a nonexistent file. Otherwise,
information about the target file is displayed. You can also invoke
this option by entering the ls -f command.

-g	Displays the same information as the -l flag, except the -g flag
suppresses display of the owner and symbolic link information.

-i	Displays the i-node number in the first column of the report for
each file.

-L	Lists the file or directory contents that the link references.
This is the default action. Symbolic links are followed. If the -l
option is used, the -N option becomes the default, and no symbolic
links are followed. When the -l option is used, only the -L option
can override the -N default.

-l	(Lower case L) Displays the mode, number of links, owner, group,
size (in bytes), and time of last modification for each file. If the
file is a special file, the size field contains the major and minor
device numbers.

If the file is a symbolic link, the path name of the linked-to file
is printed preceded by a ->. The attributes of the symbolic link
are displayed. The -n, -g, and -o flag overrides the -l flag.

Notes:

1.	A symbolically linked file is followed by an arrow and the contents
of the symbolic link.

2.	The performance of the ls command when used with the -l option
can be improved by executing the mkpasswd command. This is helpful
when a directory contains files owned by different users, such as
the /tmp directory.

-m	Uses stream output format (a comma-separated series).

-n	Displays the same information as the -l flag, except that the -n
flag displays the user and the group IDs instead of the user and group
names.

-N	Does not follow symbolic links when determining the status of a
file.

Note:	If both the -L and -N options are used, the last one will dominate.
Also, any time a symbolic link is given that includes a / (slash)
as the final character, the link will automatically be followed regardless
of any options used.

-o	Displays the same information as the -l flag, except the -o flag
suppresses display of the group and symbolic link information.

-p	Puts a slash after each file name if that file is a directory.
This is useful when you pipe the output of the ls command to the pr
command, as follows:

ls -p | pr -5 -t -w80

-q	Displays nonprintable characters in file names as a ? (question
mark).

-r	Reverses the order of the sort, giving reverse alphabetic or the
oldest first, as appropriate.

-R	Lists all subdirectories recursively.

-s	Gives size in kilobytes (including indirect blocks) for each entry.

-t	Sorts by time of last modification (latest first) instead of by
name.

-u	Uses the time of the last access, instead of the time of the last
modification, for either sorting (when used with the -t flag) or for
displaying (when used with the -l flag). This flag has no effect if
it is not used with either the -t or -l flag, or both.

-x	Sorts output horizontally in a multicolumn format.

-1	Forces output into one-entry-per-line format. This is the default
when the output is not directed to a terminal.

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

0	All files were written successfully.

>0	An error occurred.

Examples

1.	To list all files in the current directory, enter:

ls -a

This lists all files, including . (dot), .. (dot-dot), and other files
with names beginning with a dot.

2.	To display detailed information, enter:

ls -l chap1 .profile

This displays a long listing with detailed information about chap1
and .profile.

3.	To display detailed information about a directory, enter:

ls -d -l . manual manual/chap1

This displays a long listing for the directories . and manual, and
for the file manual/chap1. Without the -d flag, this would list the
files in the . and manual directories instead of the detailed information
about the directories themselves.

4.	To list the files in order of modification time, enter:

ls -l -t

This displays a long listing of the files that were modified most
recently, followed by the older files.

Implementation Specifics

Software Product/Option:	Base Operating System/ Base Operating System
Runtime

Standards Compliance:	OSF/1, OSF Level 3, BSD 4.3, SVID 3, SVID 2,
XPG4, XPG3, POSIX

Files

/usr/bin/ls	Contains the ls command.

/etc/passwd	Contains user IDs.

/etc/group	Contains group IDs.

/usr/share/lib/terminfo/*	Contains terminal information.

Related Information

The aclget command, chmod command, chtcb command, find command, mkpasswd
command, qprt command.

Directory Overview in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide: Operating
System and Devices describes the structure and characteristics of
directories in the file system.

Files and Directories Overview in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide:
Operating System and Devices.

Files Overview in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide: Operating System
and Devices describes files, file types, and how to name files.

Linking Files and Directories in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide:
Operating System and Devices explains the concept of file linking.

Shells Overview in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide: Operating
System and Devices describes shells, the different types, and how
they affect the way commands are interpreted.

File and Directory Access Modes in AIX Version 4.1 System User's Guide:
Operating System and Devices introduces file ownership and permissions
to access files and directories.

National Language Support Overview for Programming in AIX Version
4.1 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs explains
collating sequences, equivalence classes, and locale.