Working with Files and Directories
You can use the following tools to compare, copy, and examine files.
- cat
Concatenates and displays files.
- cd
Changes directory.
- chflags
Changes file flags.
- chmod
Changes access modes on files.
- cmp
Compares two files, byte by byte.
- comm
Compares two sorted files.
- cp
Copies files.
- diff
Compares two files, line by line.
- diff3
Compares three files.
- file
Determines a file’s type.
- head
Shows the first few lines of a file.
- less
Serves as an enhanced alternative to more.
- ln
Creates symbolic or hard links.
Tip
Symbolic and hard links are not the same as Carbon aliases that you create in the Finder (File → Make Alias). Unix programs cannot follow Carbon aliases, but all Mac OS X applications (Carbon, Cocoa, Classic, and Unix) can follow symbolic or hard links.
- ls
Lists files or directories.
- mkdir
Makes a new directory.
- more
Displays files one screen at a time.
- mv
Moves or renames files or directories.
- patch
Merges a set of changes into a file.
- pwd
Prints the working directory.
- rcp
Insecurely copies a file to or from a remote machine. Use scp instead.
- rm
Removes files.
- rmdir
Removes directories.
- scp
Secures alternative to rcp.
- sdiff
Compares two files, side-by-side and line-by-line.
- split
Splits files evenly.
- tail
Shows the last few lines of a file.
- vis
Displays nonprinting characters in a readable form.
- unvis
Restores the output of vis to its original form.
- wc
Counts lines, words, and characters.
- zcmp
Compares two compressed ...