Lesson 3 of 77 minBeginner

Working with Files

cp, mv, rm, mkdir, find

Creating, copying, moving, and deleting files and directories is daily work. The commands are short and consistent.

bash
mkdir runs              # make a directory
mkdir -p a/b/c          # make nested directories in one go
cp config.json config.bak   # copy a file
cp -r src src_backup    # copy a directory and its contents (-r)
mv old.v new.v          # rename or move a file
rm temp.log             # delete a file
rm -r old_run           # delete a directory and everything in it

Finding files

On a real project you will lose track of files constantly. find searches a directory tree by name or other criteria.

bash
find . -name "*.rpt"            # all .rpt files below here
find . -name "spm*.v"           # files starting with spm, ending .v
find runs -name "*.log" -mtime -1   # .log files changed in last day
Watch out

there is no recycle bin. rm deletes permanently and rm -r deletes whole trees with no undo. Double-check the path before you press Enter, and never run rm -rf on a path you are not certain of. This is the most dangerous command in this path.

Pro tip

get into the habit of ls before rm: list what matches first, confirm it is what you mean, then delete. A careful engineer checks before destroying.

Finished reading?

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