LS(1)

NAME
ls, dir, vdir - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
ls [options] [file...]
dir [file...]
vdir [file...]

POSIX options: [-CFRacdilqrtu1] [--]

GNU options (shortest form): [-1abcdfghiklmnopqrstuvwxABCDFGHLNQRSUX] [-w cols] [-T cols] [-I pattern] [--full-time] [--show-control-chars] [--block-size=size] [--format={long,verbose,commas,across,vertical,single-column}] [--sort={none,time,size,extension}] [--time={atime,access,use,ctime,status}] [--color[={none,auto,always}]] [--help] [--version] [--]

DESCRIPTION
The program ls lists first its non-directory file arguments, and then for each directory argument all listable files contained within that directory. If no non-option arguments are present, a default argument `.' (the current directory) is assumed. The -d option causes directories to be treated as non-directory arguments. A file is listable when either its name does not start with `.', or the -a option is given.

Each of the lists of files (that of non-directory files, and for each directory the list of files inside) is sorted separately according to the collating sequence in the current locale. When the -l option is given, each list is preceded by a summary line giving the total size of all files in the list, measured in 512-byte or 1024-byte blocks.

The output is to stdout, one entry per line, unless multicolumn output is requested by the -C option. However, for output to a terminal, it is undefined whether the output will be single-column or multi-column. The options -1 and -C can be used to force single-column and multi-column output, respectively.

POSIX OPTIONS

-C  List files in columns, sorted vertically.

-F  Suffix each directory name with `/', each FIFO name with `|', and each name of an executable with `*'.

-R  Recursively list subdirectories encountered.

-a  Include files with a name starting with `.' in the listing.

-c  Use the status change time instead of the modification time for sorting (with -t) or listing (with -l).

-d  List names of directories like other files, rather than listing their contents.

-i  Precede the output for the file by the file serial number (i-node number).

-l  Write (in single-column format) the file mode, the number of links to the file, the owner name, the group name, the size of the file (in bytes), the timestamp, and the filename. The summary line uses 512-byte units.

    The file types are as follows: - for an ordinary file, d for a directory, b for a block special device, c for a character special device, l for a symbolic link, p for a fifo, s for a socket.

    By default, the timestamp shown is that of the last modification; the options -c and -u select the other two timestamps. For device special files the size field is commonly replaced by the major and minor device numbers.

-q  Output nonprintable characters in a filename as question marks. (This is permitted to be the default for output to a terminal.)

-r  Reverse the order of the sort.

-t  Sort by the timestamp shown.

-u  Use the time of last access instead of the modification time for sorting (with -t) or listing (with -l).

-1  For single-column output.

--  Terminate option list.

GNU DETAILS
If standard output is a terminal, the output is in columns (sorted vertically).

dir (also installed as d) is equivalent to `ls -C -b'; that is, files are by default listed in columns, sorted vertically. vdir (also installed as v) is equivalent to `ls -l -b'; that is, files are by default listed in long format.

GNU OPTIONS

-1, --format=single-column
    List one file per line. This is the default for when standard output is not a terminal.

-a, --all
    List all files in directories, including all files that start with `.'.

-b, --escape, --quoting-style=escape
    Quote nongraphic characters in file names using alphabetic and octal backslash sequences like those used in C. This option is the same as -Q except that filenames are not surrounded by double-quotes.

-c, --time=ctime, --time=status
    Sort directory contents according to the files' status change time (the `ctime' in the inode). If the long listing format is being used (-l) print the status change time instead of the modification time.

-d, --directory
    List names of directories like other files, rather than listing their contents.

-f  Do not sort directory contents; list them in whatever order they are stored on the disk. Also enables -a and -U and disables -l, --color, -s, and -t if they were specified before the -f.

-g  Ignored; for Unix compatibility.

-h, --human-readable
    Append a size letter, such as M for binary megabytes (`mebibytes'), to each size. (New in fileutils-4.0.)

-i, --inode
    Print the inode number (also called the file serial number and index number) of each file to the left of the file name. (This number uniquely identifies each file within a particular filesystem)

-k, --kilobytes
    If file sizes are being listed, print them in kilobytes.

-l, --format=long, --format=verbose
    In addition to the name of each file, print the file type, permissions, number of hard links, owner name, group name, size in bytes, and timestamp (the modification time unless other times are selected). For files with a time that is more than 6 months old or more than 1 hour into the future, the timestamp contains the year instead of the time of day.

    For each directory that is listed, preface the files with a line `total blocks', where blocks is the total disk space used by all files in that directory. By default, 1024-byte blocks are used; if the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is set, 512-byte blocks are used (unless the -k option is given). The blocks computed counts each hard link separately; this is arguably a deficiency.

    The permissions listed are similar to symbolic mode specifications but ls combines multiple bits into the third character of each set of permissions

    s   If the setuid or setgid bit and the corresponding executable bit are both set.

    S   If the setuid or setgid bit is set but the corresponding executable bit is not set.

    t   If the sticky bit and the other-executable bit are both set.

    T   If the sticky bit is set but the other-executable bit is not set.

    x   If the executable bit is set and none of the above apply.

    -   Otherwise.

-m, --format=commas
    List files horizontally, with as many as will fit on each line, each separated by a comma and a space.

-n, --numeric-uid-gid
    List the numeric UID and GID instead of the names.

-o  Produce long format directory listings, but don't display group information. It is equivalent to using --format=long --no-group. This option is provided for compatibility with other versions of ls.

-p, --file-type, --indicator-style=file-type
    Append a character to each file name indicating the file type. This is like -F except that executables aren't marked. (In fact fileutils-4.0 treats the --file-type option like --classify.)

-q, --hide-control-chars
    Print question marks instead of nongraphic characters in file names. This is the default.

-r, --reverse
    Sort directory contents in reverse order.

-s, --size
    Print the size of each file in 1024-byte blocks to the left of the file name. If the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is set, 512-byte blocks are used instead, unless the -k option is given.

-t, --sort=time
    Sort by modification time (the `mtime' in the inode) instead of alphabetically, with the newest files listed first.

-u, --time=atime, --time=access, --time=use
    Sort directory contents according to the files' last access time instead of the modification time (the `atime' in the inode). If the long listing format is being used, print the last access time instead of the modification time.

-v  Sort directory contents according to the files' version. This takes into account the fact that filenames frequently include indices or version numbers. Standard sorting functions usually do not produce the ordering that people expect because comparisons are made on a character-by-character basis. The version sort addresses this problem, and is especially useful when browsing directories that contain many files with indices/version numbers in their names. For example:

         > ls -1            > ls -1v
         foo.zml-1.gz       foo.zml-1.gz
         foo.zml-100.gz     foo.zml-12.gz
         foo.zml-12.gz      foo.zml-25.gz
         foo.zml-25.gz      foo.zml-100.gz

    Note also that numeric parts with leading zeroes are considered as fractional:

         > ls -1            > ls -1v
         abc-1.007.tgz      abc-1.007.tgz
         abc-1.012b.tgz     abc-1.01a.tgz
         abc-1.01a.tgz      abc-1.012b.tgz

    (New in fileutils-4.0.)

-w, --width cols
    Assume the screen is cols columns wide. The default is taken from the terminal driver if possible; otherwise the environment variable COLUMNS is used if it is set; otherwise the default is 80.

-x, --format=across, --format=horizontal
    List the files in columns, sorted horizontally.

-A, --almost-all
    List all files in directories, except for `.' and `..'.

-B, --ignore-backups
    Do not list files that end with `~', unless they are given on the command line.

-C, --format=vertical
    List files in columns, sorted vertically. This is the default if standard output is a terminal. It is always the default for dir and d.

-D, --dired
    With the long listing (-l) format, print an additional line after the main output:
    //DIRED// BEG1 END1 BEG2 END2 ...

    The BEGn and ENDn are unsigned integers which record the byte position of the beginning and end of each file name in the output. This makes it easy for Emacs to find the names, even when they contain unusual characters such as space or newline, without fancy searching.

    If directories are being listed recursively (-R), output a similar line after each subdirectory:
    //SUBDIRED// BEG1 END1 ...

-F, --classify, --indicator-style=classify
    Append a character to each file name indicating the file type. For regular files that are executable, append a `*'. The file type indicators are `/' for directories, `@' for symbolic links, `|' for FIFOs, `=' for sockets, and nothing for regular files.

-G, --no-group
    Inhibit display of group information in a long format directory listing.

-H, --si
    Do the same as for -h, but use the official SI units (with powers of 1000 instead of 1024, so that M stands for 1000000 instead of 1048576). (New in fileutils-4.0.)

-I, --ignore=pattern
    Do not list files whose names match the shell pattern pattern (not regular expression) unless they are given on the command line. As in the shell, an initial `.' in a filename does not match a wildcard at the start of pattern. For simple-minded root-kits: add LS_OPTIONS="$LS_OPTIONS -I mystuff" in /etc/profile or so, to hide your directories.

-L, --dereference
    List the file information corresponding to the referrents of symbolic links rather for the links themselves.

-N, --literal
    Do not quote file names.

-Q, --quote-name, --quoting-style=c
    Enclose file names in double quotes and quote nongraphic characters as in C.

-R, --recursive
    List the contents of all directories recursively.

-S, --sort=size
    Sort directory contents by file size instead of alphabetically, with the largest files listed first.

-T, --tabsize cols
    Assume that each tabstop is cols columns wide. The default is 8 and can be overridden by the environment variable TABSIZE when POSIXLY_CORRECT is not set. ls uses tabs where possible in the output, for efficiency. If cols is zero, do not use tabs at all.

-U, --sort=none
    Do not sort directory contents; list them in whatever order they are stored on the disk. (The difference between -U and -f is that the former doesn't disable or enable options.) This is especially useful when listing very large directories, since not doing any sorting can be noticeably faster.

-X, --sort=extension
    Sort directory contents alphabetically by file extension (characters after the last `.'); files with no extension are sorted first.

--block-size=size
    Print sizes in blocks of size bytes. (New in fileutils-4.0.)

--color[=when]
    Specify whether to use color for distinguishing file types. Colors are specified using the LS_COLORS environment variable. For information on how to set this variable, see dircolors(1). when may be omitted, or one of:

    none
        Do not use color at all. This is the default.

    auto
        Only use color if standard output is a terminal.

    always
        Always use color. Specifying --color and no when is equivalent to --color=always.

--full-time
    List times in full, rather than using the standard abbreviation heuristics. The format is the same as date(1)'s default; it's not possible to change this, but you can extract out the date string with cut(1) and then pass the result to `date -d'.

    This is most useful because the time output includes the seconds. (Unix filesystems store file timestamps only to the nearest second, so this option shows all the information there is.) For example, this can help when you have a Makefile that is not regenerating files properly.

--quoting-style=word
    Use style word to quote output names. The word should be one of the following:

    literal
        Output names as-is. This is the default behavior of ls.

    shell
        Quote names for the shell if they contain shell metacharacters or would cause ambiguous output.

    shell-always
        Quote names for the shell, even if they would normally not require quoting.

    c   Quote names as for a C language string; this is the same as the -Q option.

    escape
        Quote as with c except omit the surrounding double-quote characters; this is the same as the -b option.

    A default value for this option can be specified with the environment variable QUOTING_STYLE. (See ENVIRONMENT below.)

--show-control-chars
    Print nongraphic characters as-is in file names. This is the default unless the output is a terminal and the program is ls.

GNU STANDARD OPTIONS

--help
    Print a usage message on standard output and exit successfully.

--version
    Print version information on standard output, then exit successfully.

--  Terminate option list.

ENVIRONMENT
The variable POSIXLY_CORRECT determines the choice of unit. If it is not set, then the variable TABSIZE determines the number of chars per tab stop. The variable COLUMNS (when it contains the representation of a decimal integer) determines the output column width (for use with the -C option). Filenames must not be truncated to make them fit a multi-column output.

The variables LANG, LC_ALL, LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES and LC_TIME have the usual meaning. The variable TZ gives the time zone for time strings written by ls. The variable LS_COLORS is used to specify the colors used. The variable LS_OPTIONS gives default options.

The variable QUOTING_STYLE is used to specify the default value for the --quoting-style option. It currently defaults to literal, though the authors have warned that this default may change to shell in some future version of ls.

BUGS
On BSD systems, the -s option reports sizes that are half the correct values for files that are NFS-mounted from HP-UX systems. On HP-UX systems, ls reports sizes that are twice the correct values for files that are NFS-mounted from BSD systems. This is due to a flaw in HP-UX; it also affects the HP-UX ls program.

CONFORMING TO
POSIX 1003.2

SEE ALSO
dircolors(1)

NOTES
This page describes ls as found in the fileutils-4.0 package; other versions may differ slightly.