Extra Credit 6 - Managing Files

• Extra Credit 6 - Managing Files
  • What will you learn
  • Commands reference table
  • MKDIR
    • Description
    • Formula/usage
    • Examples
    • Practice
      • Description
  • TOUCH
    • Description
    • Formula/usage
    • Examples
    • Practice
      • Description
  • RM
    • Description
    • Formula/usage
    • Examples
    • Practice
  • MV
    • Description
    • Formula/usage
      • Moving
      • Renaming
    • Examples
    • Practice
  • CP
    • Description
    • Formula/usage
    • Examples
    • Practice
  • What will you submit for extra credit

What will you learn

• Learn how to create, remove, move, rename, and copy files and directories using common Linux commands
• Develop a stronger understanding of Linux filesystem organization, including working with absolute and relative paths
• Practice managing complex directory structures and organizing project files from the command line
• Reinforce command-line problem-solving skills by completing realistic file management tasks and troubleshooting filesystem operations

Commands reference table

These are some of the most common commands used to manage files and directories in Linux.

Command	Definition	Formula	Example
mkdir	creates directories	mkdir + option + new directory(ies) name	mkdir ~/Downloads/games
touch	creates files	touch + option + new file(s) name	touch ~/Downloads/games/list.txt
rm	removes files	rm + option + files to delete	rm ~/Downloads/games/list.txt
mv	moves files & directories	mv + option + source path + destination path	mv ~/Downloads/games ~/Documents/
mv	rename files & directories	mv + option + old name + new name	mv ~/Documents/games/old.txt ~/Documents/games/mylist.txt
cp	copies files & directories	cp + option + sources path + destination	cp -r ~/Downloads/oldGames/ ~/Games/

MKDIR

Description

Used to create directories. Mkdir can make one or multiple directories by separating each directory name with a space.

Formula/usage

mkdir + option + directory names

Where directory names can be:

• Just the name of the directory(ies) if you want to create them in the current working directory
• Absolute or relative path if you want to create the directory(ies) in a different location

Examples

• Using relative path: Create a directory in your current working directory called games
  • mkdir games
• Using relative path: Create three directories inside the games directory called: action, adventure,fps
  • mkdir games/action games/adventure games/fps
• Using absolute path: Create a directory in the action directory called wonderboy
  • mkdir ~/games/action/wonderboy
• Using absolute path: Create two directories, one in fps and another in adventure. Call them cod and uncharted
  • mkdir ~/games/fps/cod ~/games/adventure/uncharted
• Create a parent and subdirectory at the same time
  • mkdir -p ~/Documents/school/english/homework
• Create a directory and display a message confirming the directory creation (verbose output)
  • mkdir -pv ~/Downloads/games
  • mkdir -pv ~/Downloads/games/action games/fps/doom practice

Practice

Description

You have just been assigned the task of organizing a new project called “ProjectPhoenix” on your company’s server. For this project, you need to set up a directory structure that will hold various types of documents. The structure should look like this:

ProjectPhoenix/
├── planning/
│   ├── meetings/
│   └── drafts/
├── development/
│   ├── code/
│   └── documentation/
└── testing/
    ├── unit_tests/
    └── integration_tests/

TOUCH

Description

touch is used to create an empty file or to update the timestamp of an existing file. If the specified file does not exist, touch will create it. If the file exists, touch will update its access and modification times to the current time.

Formula/usage

touch + option + file(s) name

Where file names can be:

• Just the name of the files if you want to create them in the current working directory
• Absolute or relative path if you want to create the directory in a different location

Examples

• Create multiple files in the current working directory
  • touch notes.txt program.py page.html
• Create multiple files in different directories using absolute path
  • touch ~/games/action/wonderboy/run.txt ~/games/adventure/uncharted/todo.md
• Create multiple files in different directories using relative path
  • touch games/action/run.sh games/fps/readme.md

Practice

Description

In the previous practice, you created a directory structure. Add the following files to each directory:

ProjectPhoenix/
├── development
│   ├── code
│   │   ├── app.js
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   └── styles.css
│   └── documentation
│       └── readme.md
├── planning
│   ├── drafts
│   │   └── notes.md
│   └── meetings
│       └── schedule.docx
└── testing
    ├── integration_tests
    │   └── instructions.md
    └── unit_tests
        └── test.js

10 directories, 8 files

RM

Description

The rm command is used to remove files and directories. It is a powerful command that can permanently delete files, so it should be used with caution. By default, rm removes files, but with certain options, it can also delete directories and their contents. In Linux, empty directories can be removed with rmdir, while non-empty directories require rm -r.

When you try to remove non-empty directories, the following error is shown:
“rm: cannot remove 'directory_name/': Is a directory”.
Even when using the rmdir command, trying to remove a non-empty directory results in the following error: “rmdir: failed to remove 'directory_name/': Directory not empty”. To remove non-empty directories, use the -r option. See examples.

Formula/usage

rm + option + directories or files to remove

Where file/directory name can be:

• Just the name of the files/directories if they are located in the current working directory
• Absolute or relative path if they are located in a different location

Common Options:

• -f: Force removal without prompting for confirmation.
• -r or -R: Recursively remove directories and their contents.
• -i: Prompt before each removal.
• -v: Verbose mode, showing the files as they are removed.

Examples

• Remove files using absolute path
  • rm ~/games/action/run.sh ~/games/adventure/uncharted/todo.md
• Remove files using relative path
  • rm games/fps/readme.md games/notes.txt games/page.html
• Remove files and directories but prompt for confirmation before removing and display removal message when done
  • rm -vir games/program.py ~/ProjectDelta
• Remove a non-empty directory without confirmation (-f forces removal without prompts)
  • rm -rf games/

Practice

You have a folder named “OutdatedProjects” in your home directory. This folder contains old project files that you no longer need, including subdirectories with their own files. You want to clean up your home directory by completely removing the “OutdatedProjects” folder and all of its contents.

The directory structure looks like this:

/home/user/OutdatedProjects/
    ├── projectA/
    │   └── old_data.txt
    ├── projectB/
    │   └── old_report.txt
    ├── projectC/
    │   └── notes.txt
    └── archived_files.txt

Use the rm command to delete the entire “OutdatedProjects” directory, including all of its subdirectories and files, using an absolute path.

Before you can run the rm command, you will need to create the directories. Run this command that will run a script to generate the directories and files for you.

curl https://cis106.com/assets/extras/rm_practice.sh | bash

MV

Description

The mv command is used for moving and renaming files and directories. Keep the following points in mind about the mv command:

• mv cannot rename more than one file at the time
• mv can move and rename a file at the same time
• mv will set the last argument as the destination or new file name
• Common options of the mv command:
  • -i: Prompt before overwriting an existing file.
  • -u: Move only when the source file is newer than the destination file or when the destination file is missing.
  • -v: Verbose mode, showing the files as they are moved or renamed.

Formula/usage

Moving

mv + option + files/directories to move + destination directory

Renaming

mv + option + old name + new name

Examples

• Move multiple files using a combination of absolute path and relative path
  • mv -v ~/games/ schoolProject/ Documents/school/hmw.txt ~/Downloads/new_folder/
    • In this example:
      • ~/games, schoolProject/, and, Documents/school/hmw.txt are moved to ~/Downloads/new_folder/
      • -v enables verbose output.
• Rename a directory
  • mv -v ~/Downloads/new_folder ~/Downloads/projectAvalon/
• Rename a file
  • mv -v ~/Downloads/projectAvalon/hmw.txt ~/Downloads/projectAvalon/submission.txt
• Move and rename a file in a single command
  • mv -v ~/Downloads/projectAvalon/submission.txt ~/Documents/cis107_document.txt
• Move and rename a directory in a single command
  • mv -v ~/Downloads/projectAvalon/ ~/Documents/Avalon

Practice

You are working on a web development project named “AlphaProject”. You have been given all the files for this project. Your task is to organize the folder. You have to use the mv command for renaming and moving. You are not allowed to create new directories. To get all the necessary files, run this command, which will run a script to generate the directory “AlphaProject” including all the necessary files.

curl https://cis106.com/assets/extras/mv_practice.sh | bash

CP

Description

The cp command is used to copy files and directories. Cp requires -r option to copy directories. You can copy and rename a directory or file in a single command too. Renaming while copying only works when copying a single file or directory. This is similar to creating a backup.

Common Options:

• -r or -R: Recursively copy directories and their contents.
• -i: Prompt before overwriting an existing file.
• -u: Copy only when the source file is newer than the destination file or when the destination file is missing.
• -v: Verbose mode, showing the files as they are copied.
• -a: Copy files and directories, preserving attributes like timestamps and permissions.

Formula/usage

cp + option + source files/directories + destination directory

Examples

• Copy several files using a combination of absolute and relative path.
  • cp -r ~/projectOrion/ ~/Downloads/games.txt Videos/example.mp4 Pictures/bg.png ~/bookProject/
    • Note: Here we have to use -r because there is a directory in the sources to copy (~/projectOrion)
• Copy a directory with verbose output
  • cp -rv ~/projectOrion/ ~/Documents/

Practice

1. Copy the directory created in the previous practice.
2. Copy the directory to the Documents directory. The name of the copy is: AlphaProjectBackup

What will you submit for extra credit

If this is your first extra credit assignment, you will need to create the necessary parent directory structure. In your cis106 directory (local repository), create a new directory called ExtraCredit (Use one word with no spaces in directory names.)

1. Inside ExtraCredit, create another directory called extra6
2. Open your cis106 local repository in VS Code
3. Inside extra6, create a Markdown file called extra6.md
4. Add all the screenshots you took earlier to extra6.md using proper Markdown syntax and label each screenshot using Heading 2 Markdown headings. Save the Markdown file.
5. Your Markdown document should start with the following Heading 1: # Extra Credit 6: Managing Files
6. Convert your file to PDF
7. Run the following GitHub commands in the VS Code terminal, to push all your changes to GitHub:
   1. git add .
   2. git commit -m "Completed Extra 6"
   3. git push
8. In Blackboard, submit the following:
   1. The URL of extra6.md
   2. The PDF file extra6.pdf