LS(1)                      OpenBSD Reference Manual                      LS(1)

NAME
     ls - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
     ls [-1ACFLRSTWacdfgiklmnopqrstux] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION
     For each operand that names a file of a type other than directory, ls
     displays its name as well as any requested, associated information.  For
     each named directory, ls displays the names of files contained within
     that directory, as well as any requested, associated information.

     If no operands are given, the contents of the current directory are dis-
     played.  If more than one operand is given, non-directory operands are
     displayed first; directory and non-directory operands are sorted sepa-
     rately and in lexicographical order.

     The options are as follows:

     -A      List all entries except for ``.'' and ``..''. Always set for the
             superuser.

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

     -F      Display a slash (`/') immediately after each pathname that is a
             directory, an asterisk (`*') after each that is executable, an at
             sign (`@') after each symbolic link, a percent sign (`%') after
             each whiteout, an equal sign (`=') after each socket, and a ver-
             tical bar (`|') after each that is a FIFO.

     -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.

     -S      Sort by size, largest file first.

     -T      Display complete time information for the file, including month,
             day, hour, minute, second, and year.  This option has no effect
             unless one of the long format (-l, -n) options is also specified.

     -W      Display whiteouts when scanning directories.

     -a      Include directory entries whose names begin with a dot (`.').

     -c      Use time file's status was last changed instead of last modifica-
             tion time for sorting (-t) or printing (-l, -n).

     -d      Directories are listed as plain files (not searched recursively)
             and symbolic links in the argument list are not indirected
             through.

     -f      Output is not sorted.

     -g      Does nothing; kept for compatibility with older versions of
             ls(1).

     -i      For each file, print its inode number.

     -k      Modifies the -s option, causing the sizes to be reported in kilo-
             bytes.  Overrides any value specified by the BLOCKSIZE environ-

             ment variable.

     -l      (The lowercase letter ``ell.'') List in long format (see below).
             If the output is to a terminal, a total sum of all file sizes is
             output on a line before the long listing.

     -m      Stream output format; list files across the page, separated by
             commas.

     -n      List in long format as in -l, but retain user and group IDs in a
             numeric format.

     -o      Include the file flags in a long format (-l, -n) output.

     -p      Display a slash (`/') immediately after each pathname that is a
             directory.

     -q      Force printing of non-graphic characters in file names as the
             character ``?''; this is the default when output is to a termi-
             nal.

     -r      Reverse the order of the sort to get reverse lexicographical or-
             der or the smallest or oldest entries first.

     -s      Display the number of file system blocks actually used by each
             file, where partial units are rounded up to the next integer val-
             ue.  Blocks are 512 bytes unless overridden by the -k flag or
             BLOCKSIZE environment variable.

     -t      Sort by time modified (most recently modified first) before sort-
             ing the operands in lexicographical order.

     -u      Use file's last access time instead of last modification time for
             sorting (-t) or printing (-l, -n).

     -x      Multi-column output sorted across the page rather than down the
             page.

     -1      (The numeric digit ``one.'') Force output to be one entry per
             line.  This is the default when output is not to a terminal.

     The -1, -C, -l, and -n options all override each other; the last one
     specified determines the format used.

     The -c and -u options override each other; the last one specified deter-
     mines the file time used.  The -f option overrides any occurrence of ei-
     ther.

     By default, ls lists one entry per line to standard output; the excep-
     tions are to terminals or when the -C or -m options are specified.

     File information is displayed with one or more <blank>s separating the
     information associated with the -i, -s, -l, and -n options.

   The Long Format
     If the -l or -n options are given, the following information is displayed
     for each file: mode, number of links, owner, group, size in bytes, time
     of last modification (``mmm dd HH:MM''), and the pathname.  In addition,
     for each directory whose contents are displayed, the first line displayed
     is the total number of blocks used by the files in the directory.  Blocks
     are 512 bytes unless overridden by the -k option or BLOCKSIZE environment
     variable.

     If the owner or group name is not a known user or group name, respective-
     ly, or the -n option is given, the numeric ID is displayed.

     If the file is a character special or block special file, the major and
     minor device numbers for the file are displayed in the size field.

     If the -T option is given, the time of last modification is displayed us-
     ing the format ``mmm dd HH:MM:SS CCYY''.

     If the file is a symbolic link, the pathname of the linked-to file is
     preceded by ``->''.

     The file mode printed under the -l or -n options consists of the entry
     type, owner permissions, and group permissions.  The entry type character
     describes the type of file, as follows:

           b     block special file
           c     character special file
           d     directory
           l     symbolic link
           s     socket link
           p     FIFO
           w     whiteout
           -     regular file

     The next three fields are three characters each: owner permissions, group
     permissions, and other permissions.  Each field has three character posi-
     tions:

           1.   If r, the file is readable; if -, it is not readable.
           2.   If w, the file is writable; if -, it is not writable.
           3.   The first of the following that applies:

                      S     If in the owner permissions, the file is not exe-
                            cutable and set-user-ID mode is set.  If in the
                            group permissions, the file is not executable and
                            set-group-ID mode is set.

                      s     If in the owner permissions, the file is exe-
                            cutable and set-user-ID mode is set.  If in the
                            group permissions, the file is executable and set-
                            group-ID mode is set.

                      x     The file is executable or the directory is search-
                            able.

                      -     The file is neither readable, writable, exe-
                            cutable, nor set-user-ID, nor set-group-ID, nor
                            sticky (see below).

                These next two apply only to the third character in the last
                group (other permissions):

                      T     The sticky bit is set (mode 1000), but neither ex-
                            ecutable nor searchable (see chmod(1) or
                            sticky(8)).

                      t     The sticky bit is set (mode 1000), and is search-
                            able or executable (see chmod(1) or sticky(8)).

     In addition, if the -o option is specified, the file flags (see
     chflags(1)) are displayed as comma-separated strings in front of the file
     size, abbreviated as follows:

           -         no flags
           uappnd    user append-only
           uchg      user immutable


           nodump    do not dump
           opaque    opaque file
           sappnd    system append-only
           arch      archived
           schg      system immutable

     The ls utility exits 0 on success or >0 if an error occurred.

EXAMPLES
     ls -l

     List the contents of the current working directory in long format.

     ls -lioF

     In addition to listing the contents of the current working directory in
     long format, show inode numbers, file flags (see chflags(1)), and suffix
     each filename with a symbol representing its file type.

     ls -lt /var/log

     List the files in /var/log, sorting the output such that the mostly re-
     cently modified entries are printed first.

ENVIRONMENT
     BLOCKSIZE  If the environment variable BLOCKSIZE is set, and the -k op-
                tion is not specified, the block counts (see -s) will be dis-
                played in units of that size block.

     COLUMNS    If this variable contains a string representing a decimal in-
                teger, it is used as the column position width for displaying
                multiple-text-column output.  The ls utility calculates how
                many pathname text columns to display based on the width pro-
                vided (see -C).

     TZ         The timezone to use when displaying dates.  See environ(7) for
                more information.

COMPATIBILITY
     The group field is now automatically included in the long listing for
     files in order to be compatible with the IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX.2'')
     specification.

SEE ALSO
     chflags(1), chmod(1), symlink(7), sticky(8)

STANDARDS
     The ls utility is expected to be a superset of the IEEE Std1003.2
     (``POSIX.2'') specification.

HISTORY
     An ls utility appeared in Version 5 AT&T UNIX.

OpenBSD 3.0                      July 29, 1994                               4
