Unix-commands
Unix-commands
http://doors.stanford.edu/~sr/computing/basic-unix.html
http://www.math.utah.edu/lab/unix/unix-commands.html
Files
ls --- lists your files
ls -l --- lists your files in 'long format', which contains lots of useful information,
e.g. the exact size of the file, who owns the file and who has the right to look at it,
and when it was last modified.
ls -a --- lists all files, including the ones whose filenames begin in a dot, which
you do not always want to see.
There are many more options, for example to list files by size, by date, recursively
etc.
more filename --- shows the first part of a file, just as much as will fit on one
screen. Just hit the space bar to see more or q to quit. You can use /pattern to
search for a pattern.
emacs filename --- is an editor that lets you create and edit a file. See the emacs
page.
mv filename1 filename2 --- moves a file (i.e. gives it a different name, or moves
it into a different directory (see below)
cp filename1 filename2 --- copies a file
rm filename --- removes a file. It is wise to use the option rm -i, which will ask
you for confirmation before actually deleting anything. You can make this your
default by making an alias in your .cshrc file.
diff filename1 filename2 --- compares files, and shows where they differ
wc filename --- tells you how many lines, words, and characters there are in a file
chmod options filename --- lets you change the read, write, and execute
permissions on your files. The default is that only you can look at them and
change them, but you may sometimes want to change these permissions. For
example, chmod o+r filename will make the file readable for everyone, and
chmod o-r filename will make it unreadable for others again. Note that for
someone to be able to actually look at the file the directories it is in need to be at
least executable. See help protection for more details.
File Compression
o gzip filename --- compresses files, so that they take up much less space.
Usually text files compress to about half their original size, but it depends
very much on the size of the file and the nature of the contents. There are
other tools for this purpose, too (e.g. compress), but gzip usually gives the
highest compression rate. Gzip produces files with the ending '.gz'
appended to the original filename.
o gunzip filename --- uncompresses files compressed by gzip.
o gzcat filename --- lets you look at a gzipped file without actually having
to gunzip it (same as gunzip -c). You can even print it directly, using
gzcat filename | lpr
printing
o lpr filename --- print. Use the -P option to specify the printer name if you
want to use a printer other than your default printer. For example, if you
want to print double-sided, use 'lpr -Pvalkyr-d', or if you're at CSLI, you
may want to use 'lpr -Pcord115-d'. See 'help printers' for more information
about printers and their locations.
o lpq --- check out the printer queue, e.g. to get the number needed for
removal, or to see how many other files will be printed before yours will
come out
o lprm jobnumber --- remove something from the printer queue. You can
find the job number by using lpq. Theoretically you also have to specify a
printer name, but this isn't necessary as long as you use your default
printer in the department.
Directories
Directories, like folders on a Macintosh, are used to group files together in a hierarchical
structure.
mkdir dirname --- make a new directory
cd dirname --- change directory. You basically 'go' to another directory, and you
will see the files in that directory when you do 'ls'. You always start out in your
'home directory', and you can get back there by typing 'cd' without arguments.
'cd ..' will get you one level up from your current position. You don't have to walk
along step by step - you can make big leaps or avoid walking around by
specifying pathnames.
pwd --- tells you where you currently are.
Finding things
ff --- find files anywhere on the system. This can be extremely useful if you've
forgotten in which directory you put a file, but do remember the name. In fact, if
you use ff -p you don't even need the full name, just the beginning. This can also
be useful for finding other things on the system, e.g. documentation.
grep string filename(s) --- looks for the string in the files. This can be useful a lot
of purposes, e.g. finding the right file among many, figuring out which is the right
version of something, and even doing serious corpus work. grep comes in several
varieties (grep, egrep, and fgrep) and has a lot of very flexible options. Check
out the man pages if this sounds good to you.
Miscellaneous tools
webster word --- looks up the word in an electronic version of Webster's
dictionary and returns the definition(s)
date --- shows the current date and time.
cal --- shows a calendar of the current month. Use e.g., 'cal 10 1995' to get that for
October 95, or 'cal 1995' to get the whole year.
You can find out more about these commands by looking up their manpages:
man commandname --- shows you the manual page for the command