CertiGuide to A+ (A+ 4 Real)  9  Chapter 5: The Linux Operating System       9  Basic Concepts and Procedures for Creating, Viewing and Editing Files and Directories            9  Common Commands

pwd - Print Name Of Current/Working Directory 1 touch - Change File Time Stamps

This command moves one around the directory structure:

cd [directory_path]

Changes the current working directory to the directory is given in the directory_path. The path is the route to the new working directory and can be given as an absolute path (complete path) or a relative path (partial path). A complete path or absolute path is the complete route to move from the root directory to target directory. Using the relative or partial path, the system will look for the first directory listed within the current working directory and then the sequence of directories or the route to the final „sub’-directory. The pwd command can be used to show the absolute path to the new working directory.

Remember the two special files . and ..? A relative directory path can be specified using the .. file name, to move to the parent directory, followed by the path from the parent directory to the final directory. For example: if /home/user_one/funny is the current working directory and the not_funny directory, which is within the user_one directory is the target directory. Using:

cd ../not_funny

will accomplish the change.

Another short hand for the home directory is the ~ character. It always refers to one’s home directory so typing ~/ at the beginning of a directory path is a absolute reference to one’s home directory. For example:

cd ~/notfunny

would make the move to /home/user_dir/not_funny if the users home directory was /home/user_dir.

One last shortcut: simply typing:

cd

will always move one to their home directory.

pwd - Print Name Of Current/Working Directory 1 touch - Change File Time Stamps