HPUX ls[1]
ls(1) ls(1)
NAME
ls, l, ll, lsf, lsr, lsx - list contents of directories
SYNOPSIS
ls [-abcdfgilmnopqrstuxACFHLR1] [names]
l [ls_options] [names]
ll [ls_options] [names]
lsf [ls_options] [names]
lsr [ls_options] [names]
lsx [ls_options] [names]
DESCRIPTION
For each directory argument, ls lists the contents of the directory.
For each file argument, ls repeats its name and any other information
requested. The output is sorted in ascending collation order by
default (see Environment Variables below). When no argument is given,
the current directory is listed. When several arguments are given,
the arguments are first sorted appropriately, but file arguments
appear before directories and their contents.
If you are the user with appropriate privileges, all files except .
and .. are listed by default.
There are three major listing formats. The format chosen depends on
whether the output is going to a login device (determined by whether
output device file is a tty device), and can also be controlled by
option flags. The default format for a login device is to list the
contents of directories in multi-column format, with entries sorted
vertically by column. (When individual file names (as opposed to
directory names) appear in the argument list, those file names are
always sorted across the page rather than down the page in columns
because individual file names can be arbitrarily long.) If the
standard output is not a login device, the default format is to list
one entry per line. The -C and -x options enable multi-column
formats, and the -m option enables stream output format in which files
are listed across the page, separated by commas. In order to
determine output formats for the -C, -x, and -m options, ls uses an
environment variable, COLUMNS, to determine the number of character
positions available on each output line. If this variable is not set,
the terminfo database is used to determine the number of columns,
based on the environment variable TERM. If this information cannot be
obtained, 80 columns is assumed.
Options
ls recognizes numerous options:
-a List all entries; usually entries whose names begin with a
period (.) are not listed.
-b Force printing of non-graphic characters to be in the octal
\ddd notation.
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-c Use time of last modification of the inode (file created,
mode changed, etc.) for sorting (-t) or printing (-l
(ell)).
-d If an argument is a directory, list only its name (not its
contents); often used with -l (ell) 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 disables -l
(ell), -t, -s, and -r, and enables -a; the order is the
order in which entries appear in the directory.
-g Same as -l, (ell) except that only the group is printed
(owner is omitted). If both -l (ell) and -g are specified,
the owner is not printed.
-i For each file, print the inode number in the first column
of the report. When used in multi-column output, the
number precedes the file name in each column.
-l (ell) List in long format, giving mode, number of links,
owner, group, size in bytes, and time of last modification
for each file (see further DESCRIPTION and Access Control
Lists below). If the time of last modification is greater
than six months ago, or any time in the future, the year is
substituted for the hour and minute of the modification
time. If the file is a special file, the size field
contains the major and minor device numbers rather than a
size.
-m Stream output format.
-n The same as -l, (ell) except that the owner's UID and
group's GID numbers are printed, rather than the associated
character strings.
-o The same as -l, (ell) except that only the owner is printed
(group is omitted). (If both -l (ell) and -o are
specified, the group is not printed).
-p Put a slash (/) after each file name if that file is a
directory.
-q Force printing of non-graphic characters in file names as
the character (?).
-r Reverse the order of sort to get reverse (descending)
collation or oldest first, as appropriate.
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-s Give size in blocks, including indirect blocks, for each
entry. The first entry printed is the total number of
blocks in the directory. When used in multi-column output,
the number of blocks precedes the file name in each column.
-t Sort by time modified (latest first) before sorting
alphabetically.
-u Use time of last access instead of last modification for
sorting (-t option) or printing (-l (ell) option).
-x Multi-column output with entries sorted across rather than
down the page.
-A The same as -a, except that the current directory "." and
parent directory ".." are not listed. For the user with
appropriate privileges, this flag defaults to ON, and is
turned off by -A.
-C Multi-column output with entries sorted down the columns.
-F Put a slash (/) after each file name if that file is a
directory or a symbolic link to a directory; put an
asterisk (*) after each file name if that file is
executable; put an at sign (@) after each file name if that
file is a symbolic link to a file; put a vertical bar (|)
after each file name if that file is a FIFO.
-H Put a plus sign (+) after each file name if that file is a
hidden directory (context-dependent file). This option
also implies -F. See cdf(4).
When used with the -l (ell) option on device files, the
cnode name (if found in /etc/clusterconf) or cnode ID of
the device file is printed following the minor device
number. A cnode ID of zero is used to indicate a device
file that can be accessed from any cnode.
-L If the argument is a symbolic link, list the file or
directory to which the link refers rather than the link
itself.
-R Recursively list subdirectories encountered.
-1 (one) The file names will be listed in single column format
regardless of the output device. This forces single column
format to the user's terminal.
Specifying more than one of the options in the following mutually
exclusive pairs is not considered an error: -C and -l (ell), -m and -l
(ell), -x and -l (ell), -C and -1 (one), -c and -u.
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ls is normally known by several shorthand-version names for the
various formats:
l equivalent to ls -m.
ll equivalent to ls -l (ell).
lsf equivalent to ls -F.
lsr equivalent to ls -R.
lsx equivalent to ls -x.
The shorthand notations are implemented as links to ls. Option
arguments to the shorthand versions behave exactly as if the long form
above had been used with the additional arguments.
Mode Bits Interpretation (-l option)
The mode printed in listings produced by the -l (ell) option consists
of 10 characters. The first character indicates the entry type:
d Directory
b Block special file
c Character special file
l Symbolic link
H Hidden directory (context-dependent file). Hidden
directories are only visible when the -H option has been
specified;
p Fifo (also called a ``named pipe'') special file
n Network special file
s socket
- Ordinary file.
The next 9 characters are interpreted as three sets of three bits each
which identify access permissions for owner, group, and others as
follows:
+------------------ 0400 read by owner (r or -)
| +---------------- 0200 write by owner (w or -)
| | +-------------- 0100 execute (search directory) by owner
| | | (x, s, S, or -)
| | | +------------ 0040 read by group (r or -)
| | | | +---------- 0020 write by group (w or -)
| | | | | +-------- 0010 execute/search by group
| | | | | | (x, s, S, or -)
| | | | | | +------ 0004 read by others (r or -)
| | | | | | | +---- 0002 write by others (w or -)
| | | | | | | | +-- 0001 execute/search by others
| | | | | | | | | (x, t, T, or -)
| | | | | | | | |
r w x r w x r w x
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Mode letters are interpreted as follows:
- Permission not granted in corresponding position.
r Read permission granted to corresponding user class.
w Write permission granted to corresponding user class.
x Execute (or search in directory) permission granted to
corresponding user class.
s Execute (search) permission granted to corresponding user
class. In addition, SUID (Set User ID) permission granted
for owner, or SGID (Set Group ID) permission granted for
group, as indicated by position.
S Same as s except that execute (search) permission is
denied to corresponding user class.
t (last position only) Execute (search) permission granted
to others and ``sticky bit'' is set (see chmod(2) S_ISVTX
description).
T Same as t except execute (search directory) permission
denied to others.
When an option is specified that results in a listing of directory
and/or file sizes in bytes or blocks (such as the -s or -l (ell)
option), a total count of blocks, including indirect blocks, is also
printed at the beginning of the listing.
Access Control Lists (ACLs)
If a file has optional ACL entries, the -l (ell) option displays a
plus sign (+) after the file's permissions. The permissions shown are
a summary representation of the file's access control list, as
returned by stat() in the st_mode field (see stat(2)). To list the
contents of an access control list, use the lsacl command (see
lsacl(1) and acl(5)).
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
Environment Variables
If the COLUMNS variable is set, ls uses the width provided in
determining positioning of columnar output.
LC_COLLATE determines the order in which the output is sorted.
LC_CTYPE determines which characters are classified as non-graphic for
the -b and -q options, and the interpretation of single and/or multi-
byte characters within file names.
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LC_TIME determines the date and time strings output by the -g, -l
(ell), -n, and -o options.
LANG determines the language in which messages (other than the date
and time strings) are displayed.
If LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, or LC_TIME is not specified in the
environment or is set to the empty string, the value of LANG is used
as a default for each unspecified or empty variable. If LANG is not
specified or is set to the empty string, a default of ``C'' (see
lang(5)) is used instead of LANG. If any internationalization
variable contains an invalid setting, ls behaves as if all
internationalization variables are set to ``C'' (see environ(5)).
International Code Set Support
Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.
RETURN VALUE
ls exits with one of the following values:
0 All input files were listed successfully.
>0 ls was aborted because errors occurred when accessing files.
The following conditions cause an error:
o Specified file not found.
o User has no permission to read the directory.
o Process could not get enough memory.
o Invalid option specified.
EXAMPLES
Print a long listing of all the files in the current working directory
(including the file sizes). List the most recently modified
(youngest) file first, followed by the next older file, and so forth,
to the oldest. Files whose names begin with a . are also printed.
ls -alst
WARNINGS
Setting options based on whether the output is a login (tty) device is
undesirable because ls -s is much different than ls -s | lpr. On the
other hand, not using this setting makes old shell scripts that used
ls almost inevitably fail.
Unprintable characters in file names may confuse the columnar output
options.
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Access Control Lists
Access control list descriptions in this entry apply only to standard
HP-UX operating systems. If HP-UX BLS software has been installed,
access control lists are handled differently. Refer to HP-UX BLS
documentation for information about access control lists in the HP-UX
BLS environment.
DEPENDENCIES
NFS The -l (ell) option does not display a plus sign (+) after the
access permission bits of networked files to represent existence
of optional access control list entries.
AUTHOR
ls was developed by AT&T, the University of California, Berkeley and
HP.
FILES
/etc/passwd to get user IDs for ls -l (ell) and ls -o.
/etc/group to get group IDs for ls -l (ell) and ls -g.
/usr/lib/terminfo/?/* to get terminal information.
SEE ALSO
chmod(1), find(1), lsacl(1), stat(2), cdf(4), acl(5).
STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
ls: SVID2, XPG2, XPG3, POSIX.2
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