UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

     ls [ remote-directory | -al ] [ local-file ]
           Prints an abbreviated listing of  the  contents  of  a
           directory  on  the remote machine. If remote-directory
           is left unspecified, the current working directory  is
           used.

           The -a option lists all entries, including those  that
           begin  with  a dot (.), which are normally not listed.
           The -l option lists files in long format, giving mode,
           number of links, owner, group, size in bytes, and time
           of last modification for each file. If the file  is  a
           special  file,  the  size  field  instead contains the
           major and minor device numbers rather than a size.  If
           the  file  is a symbolic link, the filename is printed