Login or Register to Ask a Question and Join Our Community

Sponsored Content
Full Discussion: Check whether a Directory is empty or not
Homework and Emergencies Homework & Coursework Questions Check whether a Directory is empty or not Post 302649795 by bakunin on Friday 1st of June 2012 05:02:34 AM
Old 06-01-2012
Quote:
Originally Posted by upvan111
ls - l does it , but i dont know how to use it for getting last entry
Maybe it is just me, but i sense a misconception about how Unix commands work.

In fact not ls -l does it, but ls does it. "ls" is a command and it shows a directories contents. How it does this can be widely influenced by using certain options.

You already saw the "-l" option at work, which changes the display format from the default short (only filenames) to a long (filemode, owner, group, etc.) listing.

Now, here is a general rule for working with Unix: nobody knows ALL the options every command has - not a single person! This is what "man" pages are for, which you invoke by

Code:
man <command>

Think of these as like a telephone directory: you don't have to know all the numbers by heart, you just have to know the name and the city. In Unix you have to know that "ls" shows directories contents and to find out how you manage to get some specific listing of these contents you look up the man page if you can find something which suits your purpose.

So i suggest you try that and report back here. If you find anything worthwile we will take it from there.

I hope this helps.

bakunin
Last edited by bakunin; 06-01-2012 at 08:41 AM..
 

10 More Discussions You Might Find Interesting

1. Shell Programming and Scripting

Check for empty string

Hello All, I have written shell script whcih at the max 3 parameters. When only one commandline argument and other two command line arguments are passed as empty string like eg : archive ' ' ' ' Then i need to check whether the commandline... (12 Replies)
Discussion started by: rahman_riyaz
12 Replies

2. UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

How to check if a file is empty?

Hi Masters..... I have problem !!! I need to check number of records in a file and if it is zero or file is empty i need to do some task. if ; then echo "File s empty" else echo "Not empty" fi so how to check this condition. I used wc -l < filename.txt => 1 for zero records same result... (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: shreekrishnagd
1 Replies

3. Shell Programming and Scripting

check if file is empty

How do I check if a file is empty in a sh script I want to test in my shell script if the output file is empty and if it is do one thing and if it isnt empty do another? any ideas? (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: stolz
8 Replies

4. Shell Programming and Scripting

check whether the directory is empty or not

I have the list of users in user.log, under each user folder there is sub1 folder is there. i want to check whether sub1 is empty or not, if it is empty i have to skip that user user folder and iterate next user folders. i have the sample code,its not giving not proper results. while read line... (8 Replies)
Discussion started by: KiranKumarKarre
8 Replies

5. Shell Programming and Scripting

check empty directory !!!

I need to check if a directory is empty using an if condition in the pseudocode below if ; then else although i looked at a few forums on this topic, I left feeling a little unclear and i could not use the command successfully what can i substitute in the if conditon above,... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: allah_waris45
2 Replies

6. Shell Programming and Scripting

Empty Directory Check

Hi All, I have a requirement to check all the files in a directory and mail non empty files Files are in csv format , i need to skip header while checking pls help Thanks (12 Replies)
Discussion started by: gwrm
12 Replies

7. Shell Programming and Scripting

Check whether a Directory is empty or not

1.pls tell me the command for checking whether a given directory is empty or not . 2. can i check what is the last copied item in a directory . and i yes , i want to move that last copied item in another directory . pls help me with shell code for these two tasks thanks (1 Reply)
Discussion started by: upvan111
1 Replies

8. Shell Programming and Scripting

Empty file check

Hi gurus , I have two files and i want to perform different action based on the condition if both or either is empty If then Do something elif then do something elif then do something else do something fi I have tried the below bt its not... (4 Replies)
Discussion started by: r_t_1601
4 Replies

9. Shell Programming and Scripting

Cant check empty string

Hello So i have that script collection, in which i have a single script to create a configuration file. In there, i have multiple occourences of something like this: prj_title=$(tui-read "What is the TITLE? ($prj_name):") ] && prj_title="${prj_name/_/ }" They all work as expected, if... (5 Replies)
Discussion started by: sea
5 Replies

10. Shell Programming and Scripting

How can I check, if on remote server directory is empty or have files?

I have a script, which is supposed to run 1 day of the month, connect to remote server certain directory, find files, tar the, and copy find . -ctime -1 | tar -cvf transfer_dmz_start_monthly.tar *${Today}*.*; if then echo "Cannot create a tar file, the terminated... (2 Replies)
Discussion started by: digioleg54
2 Replies

LEARN ABOUT CENTOS

nisls

nisls(1)                                                           User Commands                                                          nisls(1)

NAME

       nisls - list the contents of a NIS+ directory

SYNOPSIS

       nisls [-dglLmMR] [name...]

DESCRIPTION

       For  each name that is a NIS+ directory, nisls lists the contents of the directory. For each name that is a NIS+ object other than a direc-
       tory, nisls simply echos the name. If no name is specified, the first directory in the search path is listed. See nisdefaults(1).

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -d       Treat  NIS+ directories like other NIS+ objects, rather than listing their contents.

       -g       Display group owner instead of owner when listing in long format.

       -l       List in long format. This option displays additional information about the objects such as their type, creation time,  owner,  and
                access rights.

                The access rights are listed in the following order in long mode: nobody, owner, group owner, and world.

       -L       This option specifies that links are to be followed. If name actually points to a link, it is followed to the linked object.

       -m       Display modification time instead of creation time when listing in long format.

       -M       Master  only.  This  specifies that information is to be returned from the master server of the named object. This guarantees that
                the most up to date information is seen at the possible expense that the master server may be busy.

       -R       List directories recursively. This option will reiterate the list for each subdirectory found in the process of listing each name.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       NIS_PATH                If this variable is set, and the NIS+ name is not fully qualified, each directory specified will be searched  until
                               the object is found. See nisdefaults(1).

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0        Successful operation.

       1        Operation failed.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE         |      ATTRIBUTE VALUE        |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWnisu                     |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       nisdefaults(1), nisgrpadm(1), nismatch(1), nistbladm(1), nis_objects(3NSL), attributes(5)

NOTES

       NIS+  might  not  be  supported in future releases of the SolarisTM Operating Environment. Tools to aid the migration from NIS+ to LDAP are
       available in the Solaris 9 operating environment. For more information, visit http://www.sun.com/directory/nisplus/transition.html.

SunOS 5.10                                                          10 Dec 2001                                                           nisls(1)
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:08 AM.
Unix & Linux Forums Content Copyright 1993-2022. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy