BASIC FILE HANDLING

ls

- list files in directory; use with options

• -l (long format)
• -a (list . files too)
• -r (reverse order)
• -t (newest appears first)
• -d (do not go beyond current directory)
• -i (show inodes)

pg

- used to control input by pages - like the dos /p argument. pg performs the same function as the more command but has different control, as it is based on ex
Helpful keys for pg:

• 1 (go to top)
• $ (go to bottom)
• h (help)
• / (Search)
• ? (Search back)
• q (quit)
• -1 (back a page)

pwd

- show present working directory. e.g.
$ pwd
/usr/live/data/epx/vss2
To change the current working directory use cd

cd

- change directory (without arguments, this is the same as $ cd $HOME or $ cd ~)

cp

<source> <destination> - copies a file from one location to another. e.g.
$ cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.backup # make a backup of the hosts file
$ cp /etc/motd /tmp/jon/ # Copy file /etc/motd to directory /tmp/jon/
Options

• -f (to force the copy to occur)
• -r (to recursively copy a directory)
• -p (to attempt to preserve permissions when copying)

synonym: copy

mv

<source> <destination> - move a file from one location to another. e.g.
$ mv /tmp/jon/handycommands.txt . # move handycommands in /tmp/jon to current directory
$ mv -f vihelp vihelp.txt # Move file vihelp to vihelp.txt (forced) 
Options

• -f (to force the move to occur)
• -r (to recursively move a directory)
• -p (to attempt to preserve permissions when moving)

synonym: move
.

rm

<filename> - removes a file. e.g.
$ rm /tmp/jon/*.unl # remove all *.unl files in /tmp/jon
$ rm -r /tmp/jon/usr # remove all files recursively Options

• -f (to force the removal of the file)
• -r (to recursively remove a directory)

du

Recursively lists directories and their sizes. e.g.
$ du /etc # list recursively all directories off /etc
712 /etc/objrepos
64 /etc/security/audit
536 /etc/security
104 /etc/uucp
8 /etc/vg
232 /etc/lpp/diagnostics/data
240 /etc/lpp/diagnostics
248 /etc/lpp
16 /etc/aliasesDB
16 /etc/acct
8 /etc/ncs
8 /etc/sm
8 /etc/sm.bak
4384 /etc The sizes displayed are in 512K blocks. To view this in 1024K blocks use the option -k

lp -d<Printername> <Filename>

send file to printer. e.g. $ lp -dhplas14 /etc/motd # send file /etc/motd to printer hplas14
$ lp /etc/motd # send file /etc/motd to default printer

cat

- print a file to stdout (screen). e.g.
$ cat /etc/motd # display file /etc/motd to screen
*******************************************************************************
* *
* *
* Welcome to AIX Version 4.1! *
* *
* *
* Please see the README file in /usr/lpp/bos for information pertinent to *
* this release of the AIX Operating System. *
* *
* *
******************************************************************************* cat is also useful for concatenating several files. e.g.
$ cat fontfile IN* > newfile # appends fontfile and all files beginning with IN to newfileThough this might seem an essentially useless command, because most unix commands always take a filename argument, it does in fact come in extremely useful at more advanced levels. Awards are given out occasionally for the most useless usage of cat. If an option of '-' is specified, cat will take its input from stdin.