NAME

ls − list contents of directory

SYNOPSIS

ls [ −acdfgilqrstu1ACLFR ] name ...

DESCRIPTION

For each name which is a directory, ls lists the contents of the directory; for each name which is a file, ls repeats its name and any other information requested.  By default, the output is sorted alphabetically.  When no argument is given, the current directory is listed.  When several arguments are given, the arguments are first sorted appropriately, but file arguments are processed before directories and their contents. 

OPTIONS

There are a large number of options:

−a List all entries; in the absence of this option, entries whose names begin with a period (.) are not listed. 

−c Use time of file creation for sorting or printing. 

−d If argument is a directory, list only its name; often used with −l to get the status of a directory. 

−f Force each argument to be interpreted as a directory and list the name found in each slot.  This option turns off −l, −t, −s, and −r, and turns on −a; the order is the order in which entries appear in the directory. 

−g Show the group ownership of the file in a long output. 

−i For each file, print the i-number in the first column of the report. 

−l List in long format, giving mode, number of links, owner, size in bytes, and time of last modification for each file.  (See below.) If the file is a special file the size field will instead contain the major and minor device numbers.  If the file is a symbolic link the pathname of the linked-to file is printed preceded by ‘->’. 

−q Display non-graphic characters in file names as the character ‘?’; this is the default when output is to a terminal. 

−r Reverse the order of sort to get reverse alphabetic or oldest first as appropriate. 

−s Give size in kilobytes of each file. 

−t Sort by time modified (latest first) instead of by name. 

−u Use time of last access instead of last modification for sorting (with the −t option) and/or printing (with the −l option). 

−1 Force one entry per line output format; this is the default when output is not to a terminal. 

−A Same as −a. 

−C Force multi-column output; this is the default when output is to a terminal. 

−F Mark directories with a trailing ‘/’, executable files with a trailing ‘∗’, symbolic links with a trailing ‘@’, and AF_UNIX domain sockets with a trailing ‘=’. 

−L If argument is a symbolic link, list the file or directory the link references rather than the link itself. 

−R Recursively list subdirectories encountered. 

INTERPRETATION OF LISTING

The mode printed under the −l option contains 11 characters interpreted as follows.  If the first character is:

d entry is a directory;

b entry is a block-type special file;

c entry is a character-type special file;

l entry is a symbolic link

s entry is an AF_UNIX domain socket, or

− entry is a plain file. 

The next 9 characters are interpreted as three sets of three bits each.  The first set refers to owner permissions; the next to permissions to others in the same user-group; and the last to all others.  Within each set the three characters indicate permission respectively to read, to write, or to execute the file as a program.  For a directory, ‘execute’ permission is interpreted to mean permission to search the directory.  The permissions are indicated as follows:

r the file is readable;

w the file is writable;

x the file is executable;

− the indicated permission is not granted. 

The group-execute permission character is given as s if the file has the set-group-id bit set; likewise the user-execute permission character is given as s if the file has the set-user-id bit set. 

The last character of the mode (normally ‘x’ or ‘−’) is t if the 1000 bit of the mode is on.  See chmod(1) for the meaning of this mode.

When the sizes of the files in a directory are listed, a total count of blocks, including indirect blocks is printed. 

FILES

/etc/passwd to get user id’s for ‘ls −l’. 
/etc/group to get group id’s for ‘ls −g’. 

BUGS

Newline and tab are considered printing characters in file names. 

The output device is assumed to be 80 columns wide. 

The option setting based on whether the output is a teletype is undesirable as ‘ls −s’ is much different than ‘ls −s | lpr’.  On the other hand, not doing this setting would make old shell scripts which used ls almost certain losers. 

Sun Release 2.0  —  Last change: 1 February 1985