Folder Size

jeetshukla · #1 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009

Hi All,

I am trying to clear a share drive in unix to free up some space. I noticed that when I use " ls -l " command to list the contents of folders it displays the size of a folder.

there are some empty folders, and yet their size is quite large. For example an empty folder is of size 333824, and there are many others like this folder which are empty yet their size is quite large. Can some one suggest why? I checked hidden items too but there is nothing in it.

thanks,
jeet

vidyadhar85 · #2 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009

are you sure they are empty??
check wether there is any hidden files..

jim mcnamara · #3 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009

In unix you mean directory, not folder.

Directories are files, and use space on disk. As the number of file entries in a directory grows, the directory file grows, too. If the directory is actually empty with no subdirectories you can resize it like this - if you own it or are root.

Code:

ls -l -d ./directoryname
rmdir ./directoryname
mkdir ./directoryname
# use chmod to reset permissions as they were before (use the ls -l -d result above)

jeetshukla · #4 (**permalink**) 07-01-2009

@ vidyadhar85

I checked the hidden items to and all it shows is " . " and " .. "

@ Jim

I am new to unix so forgive me if I ask silly questions. But as I understand you are suggesting that I recreate the folders. Am I right?

Thanks,
Jeet

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