UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users

Something very weird has been happening when I'm creating files and directories. When I create a directory, at times depending on the directory name and depth, it becomes hidden and can only be seen typing "ls -a". When I say the name of the directory matters, "my_c++" will be hidden but using the name "testdir" will be fine. Even more puzzling is the problem when I'm creating files. Again it depends on the name. A file name "dat052302" is okay, but "dat052302.dos" becomes hidden, and "ls -a" or "ls -l" doesn't show the existing file. So when I type "ls" to list the contents of the directory, the new file is not in the list. This happens when I create the file using an editor, a c++ program, and by copying from another file! For example, if I copy a file that is not hidden, the destination file becomes hidden, so "cp dat052302 dat052302.dos" will create the "dat052302.dos" file but it will be hidden.

I'm using Sun Solaris 8, Ultra 10.

If anyone has encountered a similar problem or might know how to fix this, PLEASE let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

The only files you shouldn't see is something starting with .filename when you do a ls -l.

Use the alias command to see if the ls command is aliased in a way which would 'hide' the files that you should still be seeing or do the following:

/usr/bin/ls -l

If you see all the files, then it is either an alias or how your path is set. You can double check with 'which ls'

The directories where these files and subdirectories are becoming "hidden" I created myself, so there are no ".filename" files. I also double checked to make sure that the ls command is /usr/bin is not aliased. Doesn't "ls -a" display hidden files anyway? These files still don't appear in the list when I type "ls -a".

And the output of $ which ls
give you /usr/bin/ls ?

Having $ ls -a not show the files, I would believe that may be the problem. Also check your umask (although that is a long shot that it would be screwed up). The directories you are coping into are owned by you? Post the permissions of the directory where this has happened along with your umask, please.

Below is an example of what's happening. The first 2 commands display the umask output and directory permissions. Afterwards is an example of what's happening. There is only one file in the "project 3" directory, called "bko.fnl". I copy the this file to a new file called "bko.dos". The file is created but is "hidden" when using the "ls" command, and the contents can be viewed with the "more" command. It can also be removed. But when the new file has the name "testfile" it's not "hidden" and can be seen using "ls". I should also note that I can see the "bko.dos" file when I'm using the desktop file manager.

user55@gamera> umask
0022
user55@gamera> ls -la
total 14
total 14
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 user55 staff 048 May 23 14:38 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 1024 May 23 14:38 project3
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 3072 May 23 12:09 project4
user55@gamera> cd project3
user55@gamera> ls -la
total 4
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 14:42 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
user55@gamera> more bko.fnl
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera> cp bko.fnl bko.dos
user55@gamera> ls -la
total 4
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 14:42 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
user55@gamera> more bko.dos
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera> rm bko.dos
user55@gamera> cp bko.fnl testfilename
user55@gamera> ls -la
total 4
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 14:51 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:51 testfilename
user55@gamera> more testfilename
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera>

ls should not be displaying the total line twice like that. I do not believe that you are using a standard version of ls. Repeat your experiment, but whereever you would type "ls", instead type "/usr/bin/ls".

Also what shell are you using? What do you get when type "whence ls"? Also "which ls"?

On SunOS 5.8, when I type "cksum /usr/bin/ls" I get "169775630 18844 /usr/bin/ls". What do you get?

user55@gamera> ps
PID TTY TIME CMD
549 pts/5 0:00 sh
7942 pts/5 0:00 ps
user55@gamera> whence ls
whence: not found
user55@gamera> which ls
/bin/ls
user55@gamera> /usr/bin/ls -l
total 2
total 2
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
user55@gamera> /usr/bin/ls
bko.fnl
user55@gamera> cksum /usr/bin/ls
2980984376 18844 /usr/bin/ls
user55@gamera> uname -a
SunOS gamera 5.8 Generic_111433-02 sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-5_10
user55@gamera> /usr/bin/ls -la
total 2
total 2
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 15:22 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
user55@gamera> more bko.fnl
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera> more bko.dos
bko.dos: No such file or directory
user55@gamera> cp bko.fnl bko.dos
user55@gamera> /usr/bin/ls -la
total 4
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 15:38 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
user55@gamera> more bko.dos
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera> rm bko.dos
user55@gamera> cp bko.fnl testFileName
user55@gamera> /usr/bin/ls -la
total 4
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 2 user55 staff 512 May 23 15:38 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 user55 staff 512 May 22 17:05 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 14:42 bko.fnl
-rw-r--r-- 1 user55 staff 32 May 23 15:38 testFileName
user55@gamera> more testFileName
Test file, contents of bko.fnl.
user55@gamera>