3 - Weber State University

94 Chapter 3 Exploring Linux Filesystems
[root@server1 ~]# pwd
/root
[root@server1 ~]# ls /home/bob
assignment1 file1 letter letter2 project1
[root@server1 ~]#_
When running the ls command, notice that files of different types
are often represented as different colors. However, the specific colors
used to represent files of certain types might vary from terminal to
terminal and distribution to distribution. As a result, do not assume
color alone indicates the file type.
Windows uses the dir command to list files and directories. To simplify
the learning of Linux for Windows users, there is a dir command in
Linux, which is simply a pointer or shortcut to the ls command.
Recall from the previous chapter that you can use switches to alter the behavior of commands.
To view a list of files and their types, use the –F switch to the ls command:
[root@server1 ~]# pwd
/root
[root@server1 ~]# ls -F
current@ myprogram* project project12 project2 project4
Desktop/ myscript* project1 project13 project3 project5
[root@server1 ~]#_
The ls –F command appends a special character at the end of each filename displayed to
indicate the type of file. In the preceding output, note that the filenames current, Desktop,
myprogram, and myscript have special characters appended to their names. The @ symbol
indicates a linked file, the * symbol indicates an executable file, the / indicates a subdirectory,
the ¼ character indicates a socket, and the | character indicates a named pipe. All other file
types do not have a special character appended to them and could be text files, binary data
files, or special device files.
It is common convention to name directories starting with an uppercase
letter, such as the D in the Desktop directory shown in the
preceding output. This ensures that directories are listed at the
beginning of the ls command output and allows you to quickly
determine which names refer to directories when running the ls
command without any options that specify file type.
Although the ls –F command is a quick way of getting file type information in an
easy-to-read format, at times you need to obtain more detailed information about each
file. The ls –l command can be used to provide a long listing for each file in a certain
directory.
[root@server1 ~]# pwd
/root
[root@server1 ~]# ls -l
total 548
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