Pathnames
| Example Path | Description |
|---|---|
| foo.c | The file foo.c is in the current (working) directory. |
| pgms/foo.c | There is a directory within the current directory named pgms, which contains a file named foo.c. (pgms/foo.c is called a relative path) |
| /home/jruser/pgms/foo.c | The full path to the file foo.c based on the root of the file system. |
Directory Abbreviations
| Abbrevation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ~ | Your home (login) directory. |
| ~username | The home directory for the user username. |
| . | The working (current) directory. |
| .. | The parent directory of the working directory. |
| ../.. | The parent of the parent directory. |
Wildcards
| Character | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ? | Match a single character. |
| * | Match zero or more characters. |
Here are some examples:
| Expression | Description |
|---|---|
| fo?.c | Matches fo followed by a single character, followed by .c. Example matches include foa.c, fob.c, foc.c, fo1.c, fo2.c, etc. |
| foo.* | Matches foo. followed by zero or more characters. Example matches include foo.txt, foo.exe, foo., foo.png, etc. |
Redirection
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
| command > myfile | Redirects the output of command to the file named myfile instead of the terminal (standart output). If myfile already exists, its contents will be replaced. |
| command >> myfile | Similar to >, except the output is appended to the current contents of the file myfile. |
| command < myfile | Command receives input from the file myfile instead of the keyboard (standard input). |
| cmd1 | cmd2 | "Pipes" the output of cmd1 to the input of cmd2. |
| script myfile | Logs everything displayed on the terminal to the file myfile. The logging is terminated with exit. |