File Handling (Linux)

This part of the tutorial will introduce how Linux deals with files and explain how to list, copy, move and find files in the directory structure.

Video

( Slides as pdf)

Info:

ll is an alias for ls -laF, often available by default on many Linux distributions. It provides additional information such as file sizes, modification dates and full paths in the case of links.

Info:

ls -d * can be used to list only directory names instead of their contents when using the * pattern (or other wildcards).

Quiz

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1. Can you copy directory with cp <old_dir> <new_dir>?

	Yes.
	No, the -r argument is needed to copy a directory.

Warning:

rm -f: no confirmation! Use with care.

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2. What would be a suitable wildcard for listing the files test_01, test_02, test_03 and prod_02 but NOT test_04 and debug_02

	*_*
	[t,p]*_*
	[t,p]???_0[1-3]
	*_0[1-3]

Warning:

The shell expands wildcards before they are passed as arguments! In some cases (for example, when using find with a wildcard), you should enclose the wildcard in quotes: find . -type f -name "*test*".

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Exercises in Terminal

1. Use the find command to search for files, whose name ends with dat, in your home directory.

Answer:

     The complete command is find $HOME -type f -name "*dat"
         find can be used to search files and directories.
         $HOME is your home directory.
         -type f means only file (not directory) will be shown.
         -name "*dat" specifies the required filename and "*dat" restricts the filename ends with dat, while it can begin with any characters (the * wild cards).

2. Use the find command to search for directories, whose name begins with test and ends with _dir, in your home directory.

Answer:

     The complete command is find $HOME -type d -name "test*_dir"
         find can be used to search files and directories.
         $HOME is your home directory.
         -type d means only directory (not file) will be shown.
         -name "test*_dir" specifies the required directory name, which begins with test and ends with _dir. The wild card * matches any characters in between.

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