xref: /netbsd-src/bin/ls/ls.1 (revision d10900a30791c2c75c369e15846468e45df7d140)

.\"	$NetBSD: ls.1,v 1.83 2024/11/06 16:43:11 jschauma Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)ls.1	8.7 (Berkeley) 7/29/94
.\"
.Dd November 06, 2024
.Dt LS 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm ls
.Nd list directory contents
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op Fl 1AaBbCcdFfghikLlMmnOoPpqRrSsTtuWwXx
.Op Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
For each
.Ar file
operand that names a file of a type other than
directory,
.Nm
displays its name as well as any requested,
associated information.
For each
.Ar file
operand that names a file of type directory,
.Nm
displays the names of files contained
within that directory, as well as any requested, associated
information.
.Pp
If no operands are given, the contents of the current
directory are displayed.
If more than one operand is given,
non-directory operands are displayed first; directory
and non-directory operands are sorted separately and in
lexicographical order.
.Pp
The following options are available:
.Bl -tag -width indent
.It Fl \&1
(The numeric digit
.Dq one ) .
Force output to be one entry per line.
This is the default when output is not to a terminal.
.It Fl A
List all entries except for
.Ql \&.
and
.Ql \&.. .
Always set for the super-user.
.It Fl a
Include directory entries whose names begin with a
dot
.Pq Sq \&. .
.It Fl B
Force printing of non-graphic characters in file names as \exxx, where xxx
is the numeric value of the character in octal.
.It Fl b
As
.Fl B ,
but use C escape codes whenever possible.
.It Fl C
Force multi-column output; this is the default when output is to a terminal.
.It Fl c
Use time when file status was last changed,
instead of time of last modification of the file for printing
.Pq Fl l
or sorting
.Pq Fl t .
Overrides
.Fl u .
.It Fl d
Directories are listed as plain files (not searched recursively) and
symbolic links in the argument list are not followed.
Turns off
.Fl R
if also given.
.It Fl F
Display a slash
.Pq Sq \&/
immediately after each pathname that is a directory,
an asterisk
.Pq Sq \&*
after each that is executable,
an at sign
.Pq Sq \&@
after each symbolic link,
a percent sign
.Pq Sq \&%
after each whiteout,
an equal sign
.Pq Sq \&=
after each socket,
and a vertical bar
.Pq Sq \&|
after each that is a
.Tn FIFO .
.It Fl f
Output is not sorted.
This option implies
.Fl a .
.It Fl g
The same as
.Fl l ,
except that the owner is not printed.
.It Fl h
Modifies the
.Fl l
and
.Fl s
options, causing the sizes to be reported in bytes displayed in a human
readable format.
Overrides
.Fl k
and
.Fl M .
.It Fl i
For each file, print the file's file serial number (inode number).
.It Fl k
Modifies the
.Fl s
option, causing the sizes to be reported in kilobytes.
Overrides
.Fl h .
.It Fl L
For each file, if it's a link, evaluate file information and file type
of the referenced file and not the link itself; however still print
the link name, unless used with
.Fl l ,
for example.
.It Fl l
(The lowercase letter
.Dq ell ) .
List in long format.
(See below.)
.It Fl M
Modifies the
.Fl l
and
.Fl s
options, causing the sizes or block counts reported to be separated with
commas (or a locale appropriate separator) resulting in a more readable
output.
Overrides
.Fl h ;
does not override
.Fl k .
.It Fl m
Stream output format; list files across the page, separated by commas.
.It Fl n
The same as
.Fl l ,
except that
the owner and group IDs are displayed numerically rather than converting
to a owner or group name.
.It Fl O
Output only leaf files (not directories), eliding other
.Nm
output.
.It Fl o
Include the file flags in a long
.Pq Fl l
output.
If no file flags are set,
.Dq -
is displayed.
(See
.Xr chflags 1
for a list of possible flags and their meanings.)
.It Fl P
Print the full pathname for each file.
.It Fl p
Display a slash
.Pq Sq \&/
immediately after each pathname that is a directory.
.It Fl q
Force printing of non-printable characters in file names as
the character
.Sq \&? ;
this is the default when output is to a terminal.
.It Fl R
Recursively list subdirectories encountered.
See also
.Fl d .
.It Fl r
Reverse the order of the sort to get reverse
lexicographical order or the smallest or oldest entries first.
.It Fl S
Sort by size, largest file first.
.It Fl s
Display the number of file system blocks actually used by each file, in units
of 512 bytes or
.Ev BLOCKSIZE
(see
.Sx ENVIRONMENT )
where partial units are rounded up to the
next integer value.
In multi-column output
.Pq Fl C No or Fl x ,
a total sum of all the file sizes in each directory is output on a line
before the listing.
.It Fl T
When used with the
.Fl l
(the lowercase letter
.Dq ell )
option, display complete time information for the file, including
month, day, hour, minute, second, and year.
.It Fl t
Sort by time modified (most recently modified
first) before sorting the operands by lexicographical
order.
.It Fl u
Use time of last access,
instead of last modification
of the file for printing
.Pq Fl l
or sorting
.Pq Fl t .
Overrides
.Fl c .
.It Fl W
Display whiteouts when scanning directories.
.It Fl w
Force raw printing of non-printable characters.
This is the default when output is not to a terminal.
.It Fl x
Multi-column output sorted across the page rather than down the page.
.It Fl X
Don't cross mount points when recursing.
.El
.Pp
The
.Fl B ,
.Fl b ,
.Fl q ,
and
.Fl w
options all override each other; the last one specified determines
the format used for non-printable characters.
.Pp
The
.Fl 1 ,
.Fl C ,
.Fl g ,
.Fl l ,
.Fl m ,
and
.Fl x
options all override each other; the last one specified determines
the format used with the exception that if both
.Fl l
and
.Fl g
are specified,
.Fl l
will always override
.Fl g ,
even if
.Fl g
was specified last.
.Pp
By default,
.Nm
lists one entry per line to standard
output; the exceptions are to terminals or when the
.Fl C
or
.Fl m
options are specified.
.Pp
File information is displayed with one or more
.Aq blank
characters separating the information associated with the
.Fl i ,
.Fl l ,
and
.Fl s
options.
.Ss The Long Format
If the
.Fl l
option is given, the following information
is displayed for each file:
.Bl -item -offset indent -compact
.It
file mode
.It
number of links
.It
owner name
.It
group name
.It
file flags (if
.Fl o
given)
.It
number of bytes in the file
.It
abbreviated month file was last modified
.It
day-of-month file was last modified
.It
hour and minute file was last modified
.It
pathname
.El
.Pp
In addition, for each directory whose contents are displayed, the total
number of file system blocks in units of 512 bytes or
.Ev BLOCKSIZE
(see
.Sx ENVIRONMENT )
used by the files in the directory is displayed on a line by itself
immediately before the information for the files in the directory.
.Pp
If the owner or group names are not a known owner or group name,
or the
.Fl n
option is given,
the numeric ID's are displayed.
.Pp
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 file is a symbolic link the pathname of the
linked-to file is preceded by
.Dq \-> .
.Pp
The file mode printed under the
.Fl l
option consists of the entry type, owner permissions, group
permissions, and other permissions.
The entry type character describes the type of file, as
follows:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width 4n -offset indent -compact
.It Sy \-
Regular file.
.It Sy a
Archive state 1.
.It Sy A
Archive state 2.
.It Sy b
Block special file.
.It Sy c
Character special file.
.It Sy d
Directory.
.It Sy l
Symbolic link.
.It Sy p
FIFO.
.It Sy s
Socket link.
.It Sy w
Whiteout.
.El
.Pp
The next three fields
are three characters each:
owner permissions,
group permissions, and
other permissions.
Each field has three character positions:
.Bl -enum -offset indent
.It
If
.Sy r ,
the file is readable; if
.Sy \- ,
it is not readable.
.It
If
.Sy w ,
the file is writable; if
.Sy \- ,
it is not writable.
.It
The first of the following that applies:
.Bl -tag -width 4n -offset indent
.It Sy S
If in the owner permissions, the file is not executable and
set-user-ID mode is set.
If in the group permissions, the file is not executable
and set-group-ID mode is set.
.It Sy s
If in the owner permissions, the file is executable
and set-user-ID mode is set.
If in the group permissions, the file is executable
and setgroup-ID mode is set.
.It Sy x
The file is executable or the directory is
searchable.
.It Sy \-
The file is neither readable, writable, executable,
nor set-user-ID nor set-group-ID mode, nor sticky.
(See below.)
.El
.Pp
These next two apply only to the third character in the last group
(other permissions).
.Bl -tag -width 4n -offset indent
.It Sy T
The sticky bit is set
(mode
.Li 1000 ) ,
but not execute or search permission.
(See
.Xr chmod 1
or
.Xr sticky 7 . )
.It Sy t
The sticky bit is set (mode
.Li 1000 ) ,
and is searchable or executable.
(See
.Xr chmod 1
or
.Xr sticky 7 . )
.El
.El
.Pp
The next field contains a
plus
.Pq Ql +
character if the file has an ACL, or a
space
.Pq Ql " "
if it does not.
The
.Nm
utility does not show the actual ACL;
use
.Xr getfacl 1
to do this.
.Pp
The number of bytes displayed for a directory is a function of the
number of
.Xr dirent 3
structures in the directory, not all of which may be allocated to
any existing file.
.Sh ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables affect the execution of
.Nm :
.Bl -tag -width BLOCKSIZE
.It Ev BLOCKSIZE
If the environment variable
.Ev BLOCKSIZE
is set, and the
.Fl k
option is not specified, the block counts
(see
.Fl l
and
.Fl s )
will be displayed in units of that size block.
.It Ev COLUMNS
If this variable contains a string representing a
decimal integer, it is used as the
column position width for displaying
multiple-text-column output.
The
.Nm
utility calculates how
many pathname text columns to display
based on the width provided.
(See
.Fl C . )
.It Ev TZ
The timezone to use when displaying dates.
See
.Xr environ 7
for more information.
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std
.Sh COMPATIBILITY
The group field is now automatically included in the long listing for
files in order to be compatible with the
.St -p1003.2
specification.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr chflags 1 ,
.Xr chmod 1 ,
.Xr stat 2 ,
.Xr dirent 3 ,
.Xr getbsize 3 ,
.Xr sticky 7 ,
.Xr symlink 7
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is expected to be a superset of the
.St -p1003.2
specification.
.Sh HISTORY
An
.Nm
utility appeared in
.At v1 .