Name

ls

Function

List the contents of a directory along with extra information if requested

Syntax

ls [options] [file ...]

Description

Shows a listing of files in (and below) a directory. The results are returned as list, unless options are specified which will return extra information or formatting as required.

Operands

The operands can either be one or more file names, directories a combination of both or left blank. Wildcards can be used in the operands.

File Names	This lists the files specified (if they exist)
Directories	This lists the files and directories contained within the specified directory
Blank	This lists the files and directories current directory

Options

The following are common options applied to the ls command

-a	Lists all entries including ones beginning with a . (period). This also includes directories of . (current directory) and .. (parent directory)
-l	(lowercase L) Lists the output in long format. This displays extra information in a table displays as follows: File Mode Number of Links (if this is a directory this is the number of elements in that directory) Owner Name Group Name Size of file in bytes Day/Month/Time the file was last modified File/Directory Name
-R	Recursively list any directories encountered.
-r	Reverse the sort order
-S	Sort by file size
-T	Show the full date time information when using the long listing (-l) format
-t	Sort by time modified

Examples

List the current directories contents

> ls
 
IMG_1491.JPG    IMG_1492.JPG    IMG_1493.JPG    MVI_1428.AVI    MVI_1470.AVI    pics        quote.htm    site

List the in the current directory all files that end in the extension JPG

> ls *.jpg
 
IMG_1491.JPG    IMG_1492.JPG    IMG_1493.JPG

List the in the current directory all files that have an underscore after the first three letters

> ls ???_*
 
IMG_1491.JPG    IMG_1492.JPG    IMG_1493.JPG    MVI_1428.AVI    MVI_1470.AVI

List the current directories contents, show all files and display in long format

> ls -al
 
total 39456
drwxr-xr-x  12 sevitzdotcom  staff      408 25 Jan 14:04 .
drwx------+ 27 sevitzdotcom  staff      918 25 Jan 14:03 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff     6148 25 Jan 14:04 .DS_Store
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2866236  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1491.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2893038  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1492.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2870006  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1493.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  5056850 12 Dec 20:20 MVI_1428.AVI
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  3972696  1 Jan 00:58 MVI_1470.AVI
drwxr-xr-x   7 sevitzdotcom  staff      238 25 Jan 14:04 pics
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff      619 20 Jan 10:26 quote.htm
drwxr-xr-x   5 sevitzdotcom  staff      170 25 Jan 14:04 site

Recursively list the current directories contents, show all files, reverse sort by size and display in long format

> ls -alrRS
 
total 39456
drwxr-xr-x   5 sevitzdotcom  staff      170 25 Jan 14:04 site
drwxr-xr-x   7 sevitzdotcom  staff      238 25 Jan 14:04 pics
drwxr-xr-x  12 sevitzdotcom  staff      408 25 Jan 14:04 .
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff      619 20 Jan 10:26 quote.htm
drwx------+ 27 sevitzdotcom  staff      918 25 Jan 14:03 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff     6148 25 Jan 14:04 .DS_Store
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2520710  4 Jan 14:14 IMG_1494.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2866236  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1491.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2870006  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1493.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  2893038  4 Jan 14:13 IMG_1492.JPG
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  3972696  1 Jan 00:58 MVI_1470.AVI
-rwxrwxrwx   1 sevitzdotcom  staff  5056850 12 Dec 20:20 MVI_1428.AVI
 
./site:
total 32
-rw-r--r--   1 sevitzdotcom  staff    43  3 Jul  2008 transparent.gif
drwxr-xr-x   5 sevitzdotcom  staff   170 25 Jan 14:04 .
-rw-r--r--   1 sevitzdotcom  staff   312 20 Jan 10:52 index.html
drwxr-xr-x  12 sevitzdotcom  staff   408 25 Jan 14:04 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  6148 25 Jan 14:04 .DS_Store
 
./pics:
total 552
drwxr-xr-x   7 sevitzdotcom  staff    238 25 Jan 14:04 .
drwxr-xr-x  12 sevitzdotcom  staff    408 25 Jan 14:04 ..
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  14818 18 Jan 20:43 Picture 1.png
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  46225 21 Jan 21:56 Picture 3.png
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  50908 21 Jan 21:59 Picture 4.png
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  80989 21 Jan 22:23 Picture 5.png
-rw-r--r--@  1 sevitzdotcom  staff  81756 19 Jan 22:44 Picture 2.png