ls - list directory contents


Usage

ls [OPTION]... [FILE]...

List information about the FILEs (the current directory by default).

linux3[10]% ls
1.dat     Circle.H         Makefile  Point.H   Raster.C     Rectangle.H
2.dat     DisplayObject.C  Matrix.H  Proj1.C   Raster.H     bar
Circle.C  DisplayObject.H  Point.C   Proj1.ps  Rectangle.C  foo
linux3[11]%

-a

Do not hide entries starting with .

linux3[12]% ls -a
.       1.dat     Circle.H         Makefile  Point.H   Raster.C     Rectangle.H
..      2.dat     DisplayObject.C  Matrix.H  Proj1.C   Raster.H     bar
.emacs  Circle.C  DisplayObject.H  Point.C   Proj1.ps  Rectangle.C  foo
linux3[13]%

-l

Use a long listing format

linux3[14]% ls -l
total 29
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       101 Sep 30 10:37 1.dat
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       135 Sep 30 10:37 2.dat
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       846 Sep 30 10:37 Circle.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       471 Sep 30 10:37 Circle.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1552 Sep 30 10:37 DisplayObject.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       785 Sep 30 10:37 DisplayObject.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      2199 Sep 30 10:37 Makefile
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1120 Sep 30 10:37 Matrix.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       596 Sep 30 10:37 Point.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       353 Sep 30 10:37 Point.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      3137 Sep 30 10:37 Proj1.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general        18 Sep 30 10:37 Proj1.ps
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1560 Sep 30 10:37 Raster.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       539 Sep 30 10:37 Raster.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1101 Sep 30 10:37 Rectangle.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       535 Sep 30 10:37 Rectangle.H
drwx------    2 dhood2   general      2048 Sep 30 10:38 bar
drwx------    2 dhood2   general      2048 Sep 30 10:38 foo
linux3[15]%

-h

Print sizes in human readable format (e.g., 1K 234M, 2G). Used in conjunction with -l

linux3[17]% ls -lh
total 29k
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       101 Sep 30 10:37 1.dat
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       135 Sep 30 10:37 2.dat
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       846 Sep 30 10:37 Circle.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       471 Sep 30 10:37 Circle.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1.5k Sep 30 10:37 DisplayObject.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       785 Sep 30 10:37 DisplayObject.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      2.1k Sep 30 10:37 Makefile
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1.1k Sep 30 10:37 Matrix.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       596 Sep 30 10:37 Point.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       353 Sep 30 10:37 Point.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      3.1k Sep 30 10:37 Proj1.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general        18 Sep 30 10:37 Proj1.ps
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1.5k Sep 30 10:37 Raster.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       539 Sep 30 10:37 Raster.H
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general      1.1k Sep 30 10:37 Rectangle.C
-rw-------    1 dhood2   general       535 Sep 30 10:37 Rectangle.H
drwx------    2 dhood2   general      2.0k Sep 30 10:38 bar
drwx------    2 dhood2   general      2.0k Sep 30 10:38 foo
linux3[18]%

--color

This option is not supported accross all implementations of ls, but when it is, this colorizes the output (assuming you shell can handle colors).


Daniel J. Hood
Last modified: Thu Sep 30 11:44:49 EDT 2004