System User's Guide: Operating System and Devices

Chapter 6. Files

Files are used for all input and output (I/O) of information in the operating system. This standardizes access to both software and hardware. Input occurs when the contents of a file is modified or written to. Output occurs when the contents of one file is read or transferred to another file. For example, to create a hardcopy printout of a file, the system reads the information from the text file and writes that information to the file representing the printer.

This section discusses:

• Types of Files
  • File Naming Conventions
  • File Path Names
  • Pattern Matching with Wildcards and Metacharacters
  • Pattern Matching versus Regular Expressions
• File Handling Procedures
  • Deleting Files (rm Command)
  • Moving and Renaming Files (mv Command)
  • Copying Files (cp Command)
  • Finding Files (find Command)
  • Showing File Type (file Command)
  • Displaying File Contents (pg, more, page, and cat Commands)
  • Finding Strings in Text Files (grep Command)
  • Sorting Text Files (sort Command)
  • Comparing Files (diff Command)
  • Counting Words, Lines, and Bytes in Files (wc Command)
  • Displaying the First Lines of Files (head Command)
  • Displaying the Last Lines of Files (tail Command)
  • Cutting Sections of Text Files (cut Command)
  • Pasting Sections of Text Files (paste Command)
  • Numbering Lines in Text Files (nl Command)
  • Removing Columns in Text Files (colrm Command)
• Linking Files and Directories
  • Types of Links
  • Linking Files (ln Command)
  • Removing Linked Files
• DOS Files
  • Copying DOS Files to Base Operating System Files
  • Copying Base Operating System Files to DOS Files
  • Deleting DOS Files
  • Listing Contents of a DOS Directory
• Command Summary for Files