Navigating Directories

Navigating directories

• • Normally you would use a command like "cd PathToMyFolder" where "PathToMyFolder" represents the path to the directory you want to get to. "PathToMyFolder" can be either an absolute path or a relative path.

  • If the folder you want to get to (for instance, WorkingFolder) is a child of the one you are in, you only have to say "cd WorkingFolder" (This is called a "relative path", because you are only specifying the portion of the path relative to where you are currently located.)

  • You can use "cd .." to get to the directory that is the parent of the one you are in.

  • You can use "cd -" to go to the previous directory you were in before the last cd command.

  • Once you are in a directory, you can use the command "ls" to see what is in the directory. "ls -la" gives a more complete listing with

  • Autocompletion: When you are changing to a directory, you can type "cd" followed by the beginning of a filename. Once you have typed a few letters, press tab, and it will attempt "auto completion". If there is only one filename that matches, it will fill that out. If there is more than one, it will show you all that match. If you type a few more letters, you may have enough to press tab again and get the match.

  • Autocompletion works whenever you are giving a command that expects a file or path.

  • If you gave a command at the command line, but it wasn't quite right, and you need to adjust just a small portion of it, you can use the "up arrow" to get to your previous command, and then edit it. Using "up arrow" more than once gets you to more commands that you gave earlier.