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Operating Systems OS X (Apple) What's the reason behind having -n option for mv command? Post 302967808 by bakunin on Sunday 28th of February 2016 04:29:41 PM
Old 02-28-2016
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrutinizerix
I still can not grasp benefits of using
Code:
mv -n source file target file

What's the point?
According to the man page of OS X i found in the net "-n" prevents the mv command to overwrite already existing files. That means: if you have files A, B and C and you do a

Code:
mv A D

you will end up with three files again, B, C and D (the former A). Whereas, when you issue:

Code:
mv A B

you will end up with only two files: B (the former A) and C. The original B will be wiped out. This may sometimes be the desired result, but sometimes it may not. To guard against accidentally wiping out a file you might want to keep is the reason "-n" exists.

I hope this helps.

bakunin
This User Gave Thanks to bakunin For This Post:
 

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explain_system_or_die(3)				     Library Functions Manual					  explain_system_or_die(3)

NAME
explain_system_or_die - execute a shell command and report errors SYNOPSIS
#include <libexplain/system.h> void explain_system_or_die(const char *command); void explain_system_success_or_die(const char *command); int explain_system_success(const char *command); DESCRIPTION
These functions may be used to execute commands via the system(3) function, and report the results. explain_system_or_die void explain_system_or_die(const char *command); The explain_system_or_die function is used to call the system(3) system call. On failure an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from explain_system(3), and then the process terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example: int status = explain_system_or_die(command); command The command, exactly as to be passed to the system(3) system call. Returns: This function only returns on success, see system(3) for more information. On failure, prints an explanation and exits. explain_system_success_or_die void explain_system_success_or_die(const char *command); The explain_system_success_or_die function is used to call the system(3) system call. On failure, including any exit status other than EXIT_SUCCESS, an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from explain_system(3), and then the process terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example: explain_system_success_or_die(command); command The command, exactly as to be passed to the system(3) system call. Returns: This function only returns on success. On failure, prints an explanation and exits. explain_system_success int explain_system_success(const char *command); The explain_system_success function is used to call the system(3) system call. On failure, including any exit status other than EXIT_SUC- CESS, an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from explain_system(3). However, the priniting of an error message does not also cause exit(2) to be called. This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example: int status = explain_system_success(command); command The command, exactly as to be passed to the system(3) system call. Returns: the value returned by the system(3) system call. In all cases other than EXIT_SUCCESS, an error message will also have been printed to stderr. SEE ALSO
system(3) execute a shell command explain_system(3) explain system(3) errors exit(2) terminate the calling process COPYRIGHT
libexplain version 0.52 Copyright (C) 2008 Peter Miller explain_system_or_die(3)
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