NACSE - Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering
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Basic

§ 5.B:  Some List Command Options

The default dotfiles on the Department cluster are set up so that when you type the command ls, Unix actually adds on some options and executes the command ls -FC. The -F option causes Unix to print out the / at the end of the filename to indicate a directory and the * to indicate an executable file. The -C option causes the files to be listed in several columns, rather than one long row down the page. Try:

Either should produce: Your home directory probably contains files like .mwm beginning with ".", or as we say, a "dot". These "dotfiles" customize some standard Unix programs to run and look just the way the you like everytime you start them up. Dotfiles files are not normally visible with the ls command, in part, because you should not be messing around with them. To list dotfiles, you tell ls to show all files by adding on the -a option:

Be warned, changing your dot files can have unintended consequences, such as making it impossible for you to log into your account. If you feel compelled to change your dot files, why not at least wait until you have completed the section Customizing Your Account.

The ls command other options which may become useful as you use Unix more. You can learn about them with the man ls command, or in the online lessons UNIXhelp for Users.

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Comments and questions to Dr. Elias N. Houstis at enh@cs.purdue.edu.