Korn Shell Programming by Example

Accessing Files

Files can be created through editors, commands, redirection, or programs. The mechanism you choose to create a file should be based on your needs and abilities. Needless to say, you wouldn't create a file with the emacs editor if you were unfamiliar with emacs! An empty file can be created with the touch command.

The following example demonstrates several techniques for creating files:

 $ touch sm3 sm4 # Create two empty files $ $ ls -l sm* -rw-r--r-- 1 obrien guest 0 Nov 3 00:22 sm3 -rw-r--r-- 1 obrien guest 0 Nov 3 00:22 sm4 $ $ ls > sm5 # Create a small file through output redirection $ $ >sm6 # Shell creates an empty file whenever it sees > $ $ ls -l sm* -rw-r--r-- 1 obrien guest 0 Nov 3 00:22 sm3 -rw-r--r-- 1 obrien guest ...