codex-lv2-may-2025

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Exploring Other Directories with ls

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You don’t have to be inside a folder to look at what’s in it. You can use ls to view the contents of any directory by passing its path as an argument.

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Steps

1. List the contents of another directory From your home folder, try:

   ls -F Desktop
   

   This shows what’s inside the Desktop folder without changing your current location.

   Example output:

   shell-lesson-data/
   

2. What if it doesn’t work? If Desktop doesn’t exist in your current directory, you’ll see an error like:

   ls: cannot access 'Desktop': No such file or directory
   

   Make sure you’re in your home directory first by running:

   cd ~
   

3. Look inside a subfolder If you see shell-lesson-data/ in your Desktop, you can list what’s inside it like this:

   ls -F Desktop/shell-lesson-data
   

   Example output:

   exercise-data/  north-pacific-gyre/
   

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Notes

• You can give ls a path to any folder — not just the current one.
• Organizing files into named folders (directories) helps keep your work tidy.

• Use the / symbol to explore nested folders like:

  ls -F Desktop/shell-lesson-data/exercise-data
  

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