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In the last video, we showed you a command that could create directories. But although you can name files and directories almost anything you want, the wrong name can confuse or inconvenience other users who need to access the file. To help avoid this, some conventions for file and directory names have been created over the years.
- File names are case-sensitive on Windows and Linux systems.
- For example I can make a
Parkdirectory with a capital "P":mkdir Park0 - If I list files now, you'll see two "park" directories, one capitalized, and one in lower-case:
ls - This would not be true on Mac OS, which uses a case-insensitive file system.
- A Mac would have complained that the
parkdirectory already exists because of the lower-case version, and would not let me create an additional upper-case version. - Upper-case letters are always legal to use, but to help avoid confusion, you should stick to all-lowercase letters in file names, regardless of what operating system you use.
- For example I can make a
treehouse:~/workspace/park/playground$ cd ~/workspace/
treehouse:~/workspace$ mkdir Park
treehouse:~/workspace$ ls
cart.txt library mall offices park Park pigeon.txt sparrow.txt statue.txt
- Most file systems allow Unicode characters in file names now, but the special characters cause problems on older file systems.
- If you're creating a file or directory you intend to share, you should stick to ASCII characters - un-accented characters from the English alphabet.
- Numbers are fine, anywhere in the file name.
- Punctuation other than dashes and underscores should be avoided:
ls -a- A period, or "dot", is okay before the file extension, but should otherwise be avoided.
- A dot at the start of a file name makes the file "hidden".
- Spaces are legal in file or directory names, but you should avoid them.
- Let me change to the
librarydirectory'sfictionsubdirectory to demonstrate:cd library/fiction - Let's say I wanted to create a directory for the author Peter F. Hamilton:
mkdir peter f hamilton - If I list files now, you'll see three new separate directories:
ls - There they are:
peter,f, andhamilton. - That is definitely not what we wanted, so let me get rid of those:
rm -r f/ hamilton/ peter/
- Let me change to the
treehouse:~/workspace$ cd library/fiction
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ mkdir peter f hamilton
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ ls
f hamilton kim_stanley_robinson neal_stephenson peter
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ rm -r f/ hamilton/ peter/
- I can create a single directory with spaces in the name by surrounding it in quotes, so it's treated as a single argument:
mkdir "peter f hamilton"- Listing files shows just one new directory,
peter f hamilton. - But unless I also surround the directory name with quotes when attempting to change into it or otherwise work with it, the command will fail, because the name gets treated as three separate arguments again:
cd peter f hamilton - So that's not going to work well. Let me get rid of that directory:
rm -r 'peter f hamilton'
- Listing files shows just one new directory,
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ mkdir "peter f hamilton"
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ ls
kim_stanley_robinson neal_stephenson peter f hamilton
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ cd peter f hamilton
bash: cd: peter: No such file or directory
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ rm -r 'peter f hamilton'
- Instead, if a file or directory name has multiple words, it's better to separate them with underscores:
mkdir peter_f_hamilton- Or sometimes you'll see dashes used:
mkdir peter-f-hamilton - This makes it clear that the whole file or directory name is a single argument.
- But to avoid confusion you should pick one of these two standards and stick with it, don't mix the two.
- Or sometimes you'll see dashes used:
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ mkdir peter_f_hamilton
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ ls
kim_stanley_robinson neal_stephenson peter_f_hamilton
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction$ cd peter_f_hamilton
treehouse:~/workspace/library/fiction/peter_f_hamilton$
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In the last video, we showed you
a command that could create directories.
0:00
But although you can name files and
directories almost anything you want,
0:04
the wrong name can confuse or
0:08
inconvenience other users
who need to access the file.
0:10
To help avoid this,
some conventions for file and
0:13
directory names have been
created over the years.
0:15
File names are case sensitive
on Windows and Linux systems.
0:19
For example, I can make a Park
directory with a capital P.
0:23
If I list files now,
you'll see two park directories.
0:28
One in all lower case and
one starting with a capital letter.
0:31
This would not be true on Mac OS,
which uses a case insensitive file system.
0:35
A Mac would have complained that the park
directory already exists because of
0:41
the lower case version.
0:44
It would not let me create
an additional uppercase version.
0:46
Uppercase letters are always legal to use,
but
0:49
to help avoid confusion you should stick
to all lower case letters in file names,
0:52
regardless of what
operating system you use.
0:57
Most file systems allow unicode
characters in file names now, but
1:00
the special characters cause
problems on older file systems.
1:04
If you're creating a file or a directory
you intend to share, you should stick to
1:08
ASCII characters, unaccented
characters from the English alphabet.
1:12
Numbers are fine anywhere
in the file name.
1:17
I can make a directory named
1st_directory with a 1 at the start.
1:21
I can make another directory named
directory_2 with a 2 at the end.
1:26
Punctuation other than dashes and
underscores should be avoided.
1:32
A period or a dot is okay
before the file extension, but
1:36
should otherwise be avoided.
1:39
A dot at the start of a file
name makes the file hidden.
1:41
Spaces are legal in file or directory
names, but you should avoid them.
1:45
Let me change to the library directory's
fiction subdirectory to demonstrate.
1:50
Let's say I wanted to create a directory
for the author Peter F Hamilton.
1:57
mkdir peter f hamilton.
2:02
If I list files now, you'll see there
are three new separate directories.
2:05
There they are, peter, f, and hamilton.
2:10
That is definitely not what we wanted,
so let me get rid of those.
2:14
Remove recursively f/ hamilton, and peter.
2:18
I can create a single directory with
spaces in the name by surrounding it
2:26
in quotes,
2:30
so it's treated as a single argument.
2:30
mkdir "peter f
hamilton" with quotes.
2:32
Listing file shows just one new directory,
peter f hamilton.
2:37
But unless I also surround the directory
name with quotes when attempting to change
2:42
into it or otherwise work with it,
2:46
the command will fail because the name
gets treated as three separate arguments.
2:48
So that's not going to work well.
2:52
Let me get rid of that directory.
2:54
Remove, recursively,
quote peter f hamilton, end quote.
2:55
Instead if a file or
directory name has multiple words,
3:01
it's better to separate them with
underscores, mkdir peter_f_hamilton.
3:05
Or sometimes you'll see dashes used
instead, mkdir peter-f-hamilton.
3:13
This makes it clear that the whole file or
directory name is a single argument.
3:20
To avoid confusion, you should pick one
of these two standards and stick with it.
3:24
Don't mix the two.
3:28
I am gonna go ahead and
get rid of the peter-f-hamilton directory.
3:29
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