Filesystem

Covered topics: pwd, ls, absolute vs. relative paths, command flags, cd, path shortcuts.

  • pwd = Print Working Directory
  • ls = LiSt everything inside the current/given directory
  • cd = Change Directory

Click on a triangle to expand a question:

Question 1 Relative vs. absolute paths. Using ~ as part of a longer path.
 
Question 2

If pwd displays /users/thing, what will ls ../backup display?

  1. ../backup: No such file or directory
  2. 2012-12-01 2013-01-08 2013-01-27
  3. 2012-12-01/ 2013-01-08/ 2013-01-27/
  4. original pnas_final pnas_sub
 
Question 3

Given the same directory structure, if pwd displays /users/backup, and -r tells ls to display things in reverse order, what command will display:

pnas-sub/  pnas-final/  original/
  1. ls pwd
  2. ls -r -F
  3. ls -r -F /users/backup
  4. Either #2 or #3 above, but not #1
 
Question 4

What does the command cd do if you do not pass it a directory name?

  1. It has no effect
  2. It changes the working directory to /
  3. It changes the working directory to the user’s home directory
  4. It produces an error message
 
Question 5

Starting from /Users/amanda/data/, which of the following commands could Amanda use to navigate to her home directory, which is /Users/amanda? Mark all correct answers. cd.

  1. cd /
  2. cd /home/amanda
  3. cd ../..
  4. cd ~
  5. cd home
  6. cd ~/data/..
  7. cd
  8. cd ..
 

You can watch a video for this topic after the workshop.

Getting help

Covered topics: man, navigating manual pages, --help flag.

$ man ls
$ ls --help
Question `-h` Check the manual page for ls command: what does the -h (--human-readable) option do?
 

You can watch a video for this topic after the workshop.