S1CB-Software

Getting started with a CLI

The following page describe basic commands to get familiar in working with a CLI.

Contents

• Getting started with a CLI
  • Contents
  • Where am I?
  • How do I see a list of files and directories?
    • Additional parameters
  • How do I create a new directory?
  • How do I move around in a CLI?
    • Go back to your user folder (home)
    • Go up a directory
    • Go to the previous directory
  • How to create or open a file?
    • Creating an empty file with bash
    • Creating an empty file with PowerShell
    • Opening a file with a ‘dedicated’ program
  • Optional: Some references

Where am I?

After having started your CLI the way it was explained before, a good idea is to see ‘where’ we are: A CLI points to a so-called working directory. Type pwd to, well, Print the Working Directory or Dir:

pwd

(enter always executes the command, as you probably know, so we will not repeat that. Remember: we will not repeat that)

Some people nowadays say Folder instead of Directory, that is mainly just another word… For details fire up your favorite search engine and search for ‘directory vs folder’.

The answer to pwd will be a path, like:

/Users/frens

Note that in Windows, paths look different than other operating system. In this case, the path will be C:/Users/frens

How do I see a list of files and directories?

After knowing ‘where’ we are, we want to enjoy the view, by asking for a list of files and directories in the current working directory:

ls

Additional parameters

Note that the following parameters do not work in PowerShell

A lot of commands have endless variations if we add parameters, like -l, you will get 1 item per row:

ls -l

or -a (All) to also show hidden items:

ls -a

and you can also combine parameters:

ls -al

How do I create a new directory?

mkdir MyVeryOwnDir

If you do ‘ls’ again you will see there is a new item in the list with the name you chose.

How do I move around in a CLI?

We can move to a directory using the cd(change directory) command:

cd MyVeryOwnDir 

Once you a couple of characters, the CLI will often be able to complete it for you when you hit the TAB key.

Go back to your user folder (home)

Sometimes it is convenient to go back to the home directory. This the directory that is connected to the account you are logged in to. To go to your Home directory, type the following command:

cd ~

(there is a space after cd)

Go up a directory

If you are currently in /Users/frens and you want to go up to /Users, use ..:

cd ..

Go to the previous directory

If you are currently in the /Users/frens/repos/project directory, but you want to back to your previous directory /User/frens/Downloads, use -:

cd -

How to create or open a file?

Creating an empty file with bash

touch someSillyFilename.py

Creating an empty file with PowerShell

New-Item someSillyFilename.py

Opening a file with a ‘dedicated’ program

open someSillyFilename.py

In Windows you can open any file with Notepad by using notepad:

notepad someSillyFilename.py

To open Visual Studio Code to edit this file you may need to do some work , but afterward you can:

code someSillyFilename.py

Optional: Some references

• Getting started with Linux and Bash

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