Files you need to access are often
stored in subdirectories below your home directory. Because of the way
in which a UNIX file system is set up, it is often desirable to change
directory locations. The
cd
(change directory) command is used to
change to a new current directory.
This command, like all UNIX commands, accepts both absolute and
relative pathnames.
| Command Format: |
| cd [directory_name] |
You can move around in the directory
hierarchy using the cd
command along with an absolute or relative
pathname as shown in the examples in Figure . In the first example,
we use the cd
command with an absolute pathname. It does not make any
difference where you currently are in the directory hierarchy because
you are specifying to start at the root (/) directory.
The second example uses the cd
command with a relative pathname. It
assumes you are currently in the /home directory which you changed to
in Example 1. If you were not in the /home
directory, you would receive an error stating
that the directory that you were trying to change to does not exist.
The third example shows a feature of the cd
command which allows you
to quickly return to your home directory (ex: /home/user2).
Entering the cd
command by itself (without
specifying a pathname) automatically places you in your home
directory.
Navigation shortcuts with cd
Pathname abbreviations are a form of shorthand when moving
between or referring to directories. They can save keystrokes when
used with the cd
command. The shortcuts we will cover include the dot
(.) which is basically a period, the dot/dot (..) or two
periods, and the tilde (~), the wavy symbol usually found
above the Tab key on most keyboards, representing your home directory. Directories always contain a link
to their parent directory which is designated by the dot/dot (..) and
a link to themselves, which is the dot (.). The ls
-a (list files -all) command,
which will be covered in the next section, will show a dot (.) and a
dot/dot (..) even if the directory is empty. These shortcuts can be
useful when changing directories using the cd command and others.
You can use pathname abbreviations or
shortcuts with the cd
command to move around the file structure. Figure
shows some examples for using the shortcuts with the cd
command assuming your current working directory is /home/user2/dir1.
Note: All directory, subdirectory and file names
are case-sensitive.
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Lab
Activity
(Adobe Acrobat
Reader, 32 kB) |
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Navigating
the File System
In this lab
you will work with the UNIX file system or directory tree,
which has been set up for the class. You will learn how to
determine your current location in the directory tree and
how to change from one directory to another. |
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