Basic Operations

Taking the life cycle of a file from its creation to its destruction will involve some of the operations listed below illustrated using UNIX.

Create

Text files can be created and updated using word processors although, like binary files they can also be created directly by software.

Directory Listing

As we shall see shortly, files are grouped together into directories. These directories can be listed to see what files they contain. Text and binary files can both be listed.

Type and Print

Text files can be displayed on the users terminal (Type) or printed on a printer (Print).

Copy

Any type of file can be copied to create a new file with a different file name but with identical contents to the original file.

Rename

Any type of file can be renamed so that its file name changes but the contents remain unaltered.

Delete

Any file can be destroyed when no longer needed.

All these operations require the user to supply file names. In some cases it is possible to use WILDCARD characters in the file name. The wildcard character `*' is used to represent any set of names. For example suppose the command:-

ls file name

gives a directory listing of a file then, using our ACCOUNTS file example:-

ls accounts.in

would just list one file but:-

ls accounts.*

would list them all while:-

ls *.*

would list every file!