Command Syntax

The general command syntax is:- command option(s) argument(s) for example:-

ls -l *.for

This example has three components:-

ls

The command. In this case, the list file command. Commands cannot be abbreviated (although they are often very short!) and are case sensitive.

-l

The option. As the name suggests this component is optional. There can be more than one option and the first character of each is usually `-'. Options, modify the way a command works. In this case it selects the long, more detailed, format of the listing.

*.for

The argument. Depending on the command, there can be none, one or more arguments. They are usually the names of files on which the command is to operate.