What is the purpose of the -d argument to ls? [duplicate]












-1
















This question already has an answer here:




  • What is the meaning of ls -d ?

    4 answers



  • why does ls -d also list files, and where is it documented?

    7 answers




I currently study bash commands and in my tutuorial I have this command:



ls -d


I try to understand what is meaning of -d with ls I tried to run it on my computer and I get this result -> .



I tried to look in man ls and it says :



  -d, --directory
list directories themselves, not their contents


But this doesn't say to me much.



Any idea why should I use -d with ls command?



what does it do?










share|improve this question















marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, Stephen Kitt, Christopher, GAD3R, roaima Jan 28 at 16:47


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.





migrated from stackoverflow.com Jan 28 at 16:38


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.



















  • That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:27






  • 2





    @RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:29






  • 1





    ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

    – chepner
    Jan 28 at 16:35
















-1
















This question already has an answer here:




  • What is the meaning of ls -d ?

    4 answers



  • why does ls -d also list files, and where is it documented?

    7 answers




I currently study bash commands and in my tutuorial I have this command:



ls -d


I try to understand what is meaning of -d with ls I tried to run it on my computer and I get this result -> .



I tried to look in man ls and it says :



  -d, --directory
list directories themselves, not their contents


But this doesn't say to me much.



Any idea why should I use -d with ls command?



what does it do?










share|improve this question















marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, Stephen Kitt, Christopher, GAD3R, roaima Jan 28 at 16:47


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.





migrated from stackoverflow.com Jan 28 at 16:38


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.



















  • That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:27






  • 2





    @RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:29






  • 1





    ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

    – chepner
    Jan 28 at 16:35














-1












-1








-1


1







This question already has an answer here:




  • What is the meaning of ls -d ?

    4 answers



  • why does ls -d also list files, and where is it documented?

    7 answers




I currently study bash commands and in my tutuorial I have this command:



ls -d


I try to understand what is meaning of -d with ls I tried to run it on my computer and I get this result -> .



I tried to look in man ls and it says :



  -d, --directory
list directories themselves, not their contents


But this doesn't say to me much.



Any idea why should I use -d with ls command?



what does it do?










share|improve this question

















This question already has an answer here:




  • What is the meaning of ls -d ?

    4 answers



  • why does ls -d also list files, and where is it documented?

    7 answers




I currently study bash commands and in my tutuorial I have this command:



ls -d


I try to understand what is meaning of -d with ls I tried to run it on my computer and I get this result -> .



I tried to look in man ls and it says :



  -d, --directory
list directories themselves, not their contents


But this doesn't say to me much.



Any idea why should I use -d with ls command?



what does it do?





This question already has an answer here:




  • What is the meaning of ls -d ?

    4 answers



  • why does ls -d also list files, and where is it documented?

    7 answers








directory ls arguments






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 28 at 16:39









Jeff Schaller

41k1056131




41k1056131










asked Jan 28 at 16:25







Michael











marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, Stephen Kitt, Christopher, GAD3R, roaima Jan 28 at 16:47


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.





migrated from stackoverflow.com Jan 28 at 16:38


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.









marked as duplicate by Jeff Schaller, Stephen Kitt, Christopher, GAD3R, roaima Jan 28 at 16:47


This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.





migrated from stackoverflow.com Jan 28 at 16:38


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.















  • That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:27






  • 2





    @RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:29






  • 1





    ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

    – chepner
    Jan 28 at 16:35



















  • That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:27






  • 2





    @RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

    – Charles Duffy
    Jan 28 at 16:27











  • I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

    – Robert Harvey
    Jan 28 at 16:29






  • 1





    ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

    – chepner
    Jan 28 at 16:35

















That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

– Charles Duffy
Jan 28 at 16:27





That said, compare cd /; ls -d * with cd /; ls * -- the difference will be obvious.

– Charles Duffy
Jan 28 at 16:27













In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

– Robert Harvey
Jan 28 at 16:27





In other words -d will only show you folders, not files.

– Robert Harvey
Jan 28 at 16:27




2




2





@RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

– Charles Duffy
Jan 28 at 16:27





@RobertHarvey, eh? -d will still show files, if passed names of any files on its argument list; what it won't show is the contents of directories named on its argument list (or ., as the default directory for ls to operate on if no non-option arguments are given).

– Charles Duffy
Jan 28 at 16:27













I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

– Robert Harvey
Jan 28 at 16:29





I don't understand what you just said. Clearly the documentation could use some improvement.

– Robert Harvey
Jan 28 at 16:29




1




1





ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

– chepner
Jan 28 at 16:35





ls / vs ls -d / would be a simpler demonstration of the difference.

– chepner
Jan 28 at 16:35










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