To invoke Dired, do `C-x d' or `M-x dired'. The command reads a
directory name or wildcard file name pattern as a minibuffer argument
just like the `list-directory' command, `C-x C-d'. Invoking Dired
with a prefix argument lets you enter the listing switches for the
directory.
Dired assumes you meant to use a wildcard if the last component of
the name is not an existing file. Note that only the last pathname
component may contain wildcards. With wildcards it uses the shell to
do the filename globbing, whereas usually it calls `ls' directly.
Because of this, you might have to quote characters that are special
to the shell. For example, to dired all auto-save files in your
`~/mail/' directory, use `~/mail/\#*' as argument to Dired. Note the
backslash needed to quote `#' (at the beginning of a word) to the
shell.
Where `dired' differs from `list-directory' is in naming the
buffer after the directory name or the wildcard pattern used for the
listing, and putting the buffer into Dired mode so that the special
commands of Dired are available in it. The variable
`dired-listing-switches' is a string used as an argument to `ls' in
making the directory; this string must contain `-l'. Most other
switches are also allowed, especially `-F', `-i' and `-s'. For the
`-F' switch to work you may have to set the variable
`dired-ls-F-marks-symlinks', depending on what kind of `ls' program
you are using. *Note Dired Configuration::.
When a Dired buffer for the given directory already exists, it is
simply selected without refreshing it. You can type `g' if you
suspect it is out of date.
To display the Dired buffer in another window rather than in the
selected window, use `C-x 4 d' (`dired-other-window)' instead of `C-x
d'.
File: dired.info, Node: Editing in Dired, Next: Listing Files in Dired, Prev: Entering Dired, Up: Dired
Editing in Dired
================
Once the Dired buffer exists, you can switch freely between it and
other Emacs buffers. Whenever the Dired buffer is selected, certain
special commands are provided that operate on files that are listed.
The Dired buffer is "read-only", and inserting text in it is not
useful, so ordinary printing characters such as `d' and `x' are used
for Dired commands, and digits are prefix arguments.
The file described by the line that point is on is called the
"current file". The directory this file is in is the "current Dired
directory". Note that there may be several directories in one Dired
buffer as long as they belong to the same tree. The top level
directory, the "root" of the tree, is used as the working directory
of the buffer.
Some or all directories can be "hidden", leaving only their
headerlines visible, and exlcuding their files from Dired operations.
Files can be "marked" for later commands. Marking means putting a
special character, usually `*', in the first column of the file line.
To "flag" a file means to mark it for later deletion. This special
case of "marking" is distinguished so that you do not delete files
accidentally. Internally, the only difference between marking and
flagging is the character used to mark the file: `*' (an asterisk)
for a marked file, and `D' for files flagged for deletion.
Most Dired commands operate on the "marked" files and default to
the current file. They are the "mark-using" commands. Deleting is
the only mark-using command that does not default to the current file.
Dired buffers "know" about each other. For example, copying from
DIR1 into DIR2 will update DIR2's Dired buffer(s). When you move
files or directories, file and dired buffers are kept up to date and
refer to the new location. But Dired only knows about files changed
by itself, not by other parts of Emacs or programs outside Emacs.
All the usual Emacs cursor motion commands are available in Dired
buffers. Some special purpose commands are also provided. The keys
`C-n' and `C-p' are redefined so that they try to position the cursor
at the beginning of the filename on the line, rather than at the
beginning of the line.
For extra convenience, SPC and `n' in Dired are equivalent to
`C-n'. `p' is equivalent to `C-p'. Moving by lines is also done so
often in Dired that it deserves to be easy to type. DEL (move up and
unflag) is often useful simply for moving up.
File: dired.info, Node: Listing Files in Dired, Next: Marking Files in Dired, Prev: Editing in Dired, Up: Dired
Listing Files in Dired
======================
Initially the Dired buffer shows the directory you selected. The
first line shows the full directory name. It is an example of a
"headerline" of a directory. Note that it is terminated by a colon
(`:') that is not part of the directory name. The second line
usually displays the total size of all files in the directory or the
wildcard used. Both are examples of "non-file lines". Applying a
command to a non-file line signals an error. The other lines of the
directory, called the "file lines", show information about each file
such as permission bits, size and date of last modification, and the
name of the file.
For example, the listing
/home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp:
total 4973
-rw-r--r-- 1 sk users 231608 Feb 6 16:58 ChangeLog
drwxr-sr-x 2 sk users 2048 Feb 6 11:07 RCS
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 141389 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 113033 Feb 5 16:21 dired.texi
...
/home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp/RCS:
total 4798
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 231748 Feb 6 16:59 dired.texi,v
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 763898 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el,v
...
has a headerline for the `lisp' directory, a total line saying
there are 4973 K in all the files of that directory (your `ls'
program may use units of blocks instead), and several file lines.
After that, a headerline for the `RCS' subdirectory with its total
line and its files follows.
Here is an example of a wildcard listing:
/home/sk/lib/emacs/lisp:
wildcard dired*
-rw-r--r-- 1 sk users 113036 Feb 6 16:59 dired.texi
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 81267 Feb 6 16:29 dired.elc
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 38436 Feb 6 16:28 dired-x.elc
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 60258 Feb 6 16:27 dired-x.el
-r--r--r-- 1 sk users 141389 Feb 6 10:45 dired.el
...
Since `ls' does not provide a total count when called with a
wildcard argument, the second line now gives instead the wildcard
used, here `dired*'. If there would have been a directory matching
the wildcard, e.g. a `dired/' subdirectory, its file line would be
shown, but it would not have been expanded automatically.
Filenames may have embedded and trailing (but not leading) spaces.
Leading spaces are not recognized because different `ls' programs
differ in the amount of whitespace the insert before the filename.
Filenames may *not* contain newlines or `^M''s. You can get away
with `^M''s in filenames if you do
(setq selective-display nil)
in the Dired buffer (inside `dired-mode-hook', *Note Dired Hooks::.).
But this also disables the `=' and `$' hiding commands, *Note Hiding
Directories in Dired::.
Other unprintable characters than `^M' or newline (`^J') in
filenames are no problem for Dired. But your `ls' program may not
output them correctly (e.g., replacing all unprintable characters
with a question mark `?'). Dired can do nothing if `ls' suppresses
information about the filenames. But some (System V derived) `ls'
programs have a `-b' switch to quote control characters, e.g. `\n'
for a newline character, or `\007' for a ASCII bell character
(`C-g'), so you might want to add `b' to your switches (see below).
Dired translates the quoted control character escapes when a `-b'
switch was used. The `-b' switch is the recommended method to cope
with funny filenames containing newlines or leading spaces. But
check if your `ls' understands `-b' and really quotes newlines and
spaces. Dired is known to work with GNU `ls -b', but other `ls -b'
don't quote spaces, so leading spaces still don't work with these
`ls' programs.
The appearance of the listing is determined by the listing
switches used, for example whether you display or suppress `.' files
with the `-a' and `-A' switches, use the `-F' switch to tag filenames
etc. It may additionally be restricted to certain files if you used
wildcards to display only those files matching a shell file wildcard.
Dired has commands that change the listing switches for this buffer.
They are mainly used to set the sort mode, but can also be used to
change other formatting options. The buffer is automatically
refreshed after the switches are changed to let the new format take
effect.
The default value for the switches comes from the variable
`dired-listing-switches'; a prefix argument to `dired' can be use to
determine the switches used for a specific buffer. *Note Entering
Dired::. Each Dired buffer has its own value for the switches,
stored in the variable `dired-actual-switches'.
The Dired modeline displays `by name' or `by date' to indicate the
sort mode. It uses the regexps in the variables
`dired-sort-by-date-regexp' and `dired-sort-by-name-regexp' to decide
what should be displayed. If neither of the regexps matches, the
listing switches are displayed literally. You can use this to always
display the literal switches instead of `by name' or `by date': set
them to a regexp that never matches any listing switches, for example
`^$'.
Most `ls' programs can only sort by name (without `-t') or by date
(with `-t'), nothing else. GNU `ls' additionally sorts on size with
`-S', on extension with `-X', and unsorted (in directory order) with
`-U'. So anything that does not contain these is sort "by name".
However, this is configurable in the variable
`dired-ls-sorting-switches', which defaults to `"SXU"'. It contains
a string of `ls' switches (single letters) except `t' that influence
sorting. It is consulted at load time, so if you redefine it, you
must do it before Dired is loaded.
`s'
(`dired-sort-toggle-or-edit') Toggle between sort by name/date
and refresh the dired buffer. With a prefix argument you can
edit the current listing switches instead.
After some time the listing may become out of date because of
actions by other programs than Dired. You can refresh the complete
Dired buffer from disk or only refresh the lines of certain files or
a single file.
`l'
(`dired-do-redisplay') Redisplay all marked (or, with a prefix
argument, the next N) files. As always, if no files are marked,
the current file is used.
If on a headerline, redisplay that subdirectory. In that case,
a prefix arg lets you edit the `ls' switches used for the new
listing.
`g'
(`revert-buffer') The `g' command in Dired ultimately runs
`dired-revert' to reinitialize the buffer from the actual disk
directory (or directories). All marks and flags in the Dired
buffer are restored, except of course for files that have
vanished. Hidden subdirectories are hidden again. *Note Hiding
Directories in Dired::.
`k'
(`dired-kill-line-or-subdir') Kill this line (but not this file).
Optional prefix argument is a repeat factor. If file is
displayed as expanded subdirectory, kill that as well.
If on a subdirectory line, kill that subdirectory. Reinsert it
with `i' (`dired-maybe-insert-subdir'), *Note Subdirectories in
Dired::.
Killing a file line means that the line is removed from the
Dired buffer. The file is not touched, and the line will
reappear when the buffer is refreshed (using `g',
`revert-buffer'). A killed subdirectory will not reappear after
reverting the buffer, since `g' only list those subdirectories
that were listed before.
`M-k'
(`dired-do-kill') Kill all marked lines (not files). With a
prefix argument, kill all lines not marked or flagged.
(For file marking, *Note Marking Files in Dired::.)
`C-x u'
`C-_'
(`dired-undo') Undo in a Dired buffer. This doesn't recover
lost files, it is just normal undo with a temporarily writable
buffer. You can use it to recover marks, killed lines or
subdirs. In the latter case, you have to do `M-x
dired-build-subdir-alist' to parse the buffer again for the new
subdirectory list.
File: dired.info, Node: Marking Files in Dired, Next: Mark-using Commands, Prev: Listing Files in Dired, Up: Dired
Marking Files in Dired
======================
This section describes commands to mark and unmark single files, and
commands to mark several files at once if they match certain criteria.
There also is a command to move to the next marked file.
As always, hidden subdirs are not affected. *Note Hiding
Directories in Dired::.
`m'
(`dired-mark-subdir-or-file') If on a file line, mark the
current file. A numeric argument tells how many next or
previous files to mark. If on a subdirectory header line, mark
all its files except `.' and `..'.
`u'
(`dired-unmark-subdir-or-file') Like `m', only unmarking instead
of marking.
`DEL'
(`dired-backup-unflag') Move up lines and remove flags there.
Optional prefix argument says how many lines to unflag; default
is one line.
`M-DEL'
(`dired-unflag-all-files') Remove a specific or all flags from
every file. With an argument, queries for each marked file.
Type your help character, usually `C-h', at that time for help.
`*'
(`dired-mark-executables') Mark all executable files. With
prefix argument, unflag all those files.
`@'
(`dired-mark-symlinks') Mark all symbolic links. With prefix
argument, unflag all those files.
`/'
(`dired-mark-directories') Mark all directory files except `.'
and `..'. With prefix argument, unflag all those files.
`%m'
(`dired-mark-files-regexp') Mark all files matching REGEXP for
use in later commands. A prefix argument means to unmark them
instead. `.' and `..' are never marked.
The match is against the non-directory part of the filename.
Use `^' and `$' to anchor matches. Exclude subdirs by hiding
them.
This is an Emacs regexp, not a shell wildcard. E.g., use `\.o$'
for object files - just `.o' will mark more than you might think.
By default, the match is case sensitive (just like filenames),
since `case-fold-search' is set to `nil' in Dired buffers.
`M-}'
(`dired-next-marked-file') Move to the next marked file,
wrapping around the end of the buffer.
`M-{'
(`dired-prev-marked-file') Move to the previous marked file,
wrapping around the beginning of the buffer.
File: dired.info, Node: Mark-using Commands, Next: Commands That Do Not Use Marks, Prev: Marking Files in Dired, Up: Dired
Mark-using Commands
===================
Most Dired commands operate on the "marked" files and default to
the current file. They are the "mark-using" commands. Deleting is
the only mark-using command that does not default to the current file.
Mark-using Dired commands treat a numeric argument as a repeat
count, meaning to act on the files of the next few lines instead of
on the marked files. That is, when you give a prefix argument the
marks are not consulted at all. A negative argument means to operate
on the files of the preceding lines. Either set of files is called
"marked files" below, whether they really come from marks or from a
prefix argument. The prompt of a mark-using command always makes
clear which set of files is operated upon: it mentions either the
marker character `*' or the `next N' files, where a negative N really
means the previous -N files.
Thus you can use a prefix argument of `1' to apply a command to
just the current file, e.g, if you don't want to disturb the other
files you marked. As digits are prefix arguments in Dired, simply
type `1' followed by the command.
Many mark-using commands treat a prefix of N=0 specially, since it
would otherwise be a no-op.
All mark-using commands display a list of files for which they
failed. Type `W' to see why a (mark-using or other) command failed.
Error messages from shell commands (`stderr') cannot be redirected
separately and goes together with the usual output (`stdout').
* Menu:
* Copy and Move Into a Directory::
* Renaming and More With Regexps::
* Other File Creating Commands::
* Deleting Files With Dired::
* Dired Shell Commands::
* Compressing and Uncompressing::
* Changing File Attributes::
* Loading and Byte-compiling Emacs Lisp Files::
* Printing the Marked Files::
File: dired.info, Node: Copy and Move Into a Directory, Next: Renaming and More With Regexps, Prev: Mark-using Commands, Up: Mark-using Commands
Copy, Move etc. Into a Directory
--------------------------------
This section explains commands that create a new file for each marked
file, for example by copying (`c') or moving (`r') files. They
prompt in the minibuffer for a TARGET argument, usually the target
directory in which the new files are created. But if there is but
one marked file, the target may also be a plain file. (Otherwise you
could not simply rename or copy a single file within the same
directory.) Even with one marked file the target may still be an
(existing) directory.
The target prompt displays a "default target" that will be used if
you just type `RET'. Normally the default target is the current
Dired directory, so if you want to copy into some specific
subdirectory, move point into that subdirectory before typing `c'.
But if there is a Dired buffer in the next window, and
`dired-dwim-target' is true, its current Dired directory is used.
This makes it easy to copy from one Dired buffer into another if both
are displayed. On the other hand you have to use `C-x 1' to make
other Dired buffers vanish if you do not want to have them as default
targets. To make Dired never look at the next window, set the
variable `dired-dwim-target' to nil (`dwim' means Do What I Mean).
*Note Dired User Options::, on how to set cutomization variables.
As a general rule, Dired will not let you remove or overwrite a
file without explicit confirmation. Dired asks you for each existing
target file whether or not to overwrite just this file (answer `y' or
`n') or all remaining files (answer `!'). You can also type your
help character, usually `C-h', at that time for help.
`c'
(`dired-do-copy') Copy the marked (or next N) files into a
directory, or copy a single file.
Thus, a zero prefix argument (N-0) copies nothing. But it
toggles the variable `dired-copy-preserve-time'.
*Note Dired User Options::, on how to set customization
variables.
`r'
(`dired-do-move') Move the marked files into a directory. If
there is just one marked file, rename that file. As the marked
files default to the current file, this can also be used to
simply rename the current file.
Dired silently changes the visited file name of buffers
associated with moved files so that they refer to the new
location of the file.
When a directory is renamed, its headerlines in Dired buffers
are updated, and any buffers visiting affected files have their
visited file name changed to refer to the new location. Their
buffer name is changed if no buffer with such a name already
exists. Affected files are all those which contain the
directory somewhere in their absolute path name.
A zero prefix arguments does not move any files, but toggles the
variable `dired-dwim-target'.
`H'
(`dired-do-hardlink') Make hard links from the target directory
to each marked file.
`Y'
(`dired-do-symlink') Make symbolic links from the target
directory to each marked file.
Linking is very similar to copying in that new files are created
while the old files stay. If you want each newly copied or linked
file to be marked with the same marker that its original has, set the
variables `dired-keep-marker-copy', `dired-keep-marker-hardlink' or
`dired-keep-marker-symlink' to `t'. Set them to `nil' to not give
these newly created files marks. The default is to mark them with
`C', `H' and `Y', respectively.
Moving differs from copying and linking in that the old file is
removed as part of the creation of the new file. Thus it makes sense
to set the variable `dired-keep-marker-move' to `t' (the default) so
that moved files "take their markers with them".
File: dired.info, Node: Renaming and More With Regexps, Next: Other File Creating Commands, Prev: Copy and Move Into a Directory, Up: Mark-using Commands
Renaming (and More) With Regexps
--------------------------------
A second class of Commands uses regular expressions to construct a
new filename from each marked file. *Note Syntax of Regular
Expressions: (emacs)Regexps. The commands to make new names by
regexp conversion are the same as those to make them in another
directory, except that they share a prefix char, `%'.
`%r'
(`dired-rename-regexp') Rename files with regexps
`%c'
(`dired-do-copy-regexp') Copy files with regexps.
`%H'
(`dired-do-hardlink-regexp') Make hard links with regexps.
`%Y'
(`dired-do-symlink-regexp') Make symbolic links with regexps.
These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a REGEXP and a
NEWNAME. For each marked file matching REGEXP, a new filename is
constructed from NEWNAME. The match can be anywhere in the file
name, it need not span the whole filename. Use `^' and `$' to anchor
matches that should span the whole filename. Only the first match in
the filename is replaced with NEWTEXT. (It would be easy to change
this to replace all matches, but probably harder to use.)
`\&' in NEWNAME stands for the entire text being replaced. `\D'
in NEWNAME, where D is a digit, stands for whatever matched the D'th
parenthesized grouping in REGEXP. As each match is found, the user
must type a character saying whether or not to apply the command to
just this file (`y' or `n') or to all remaining files(`!'). For help
type your help character, usually `C-h', at that time.
For example, if you want to rename all `.lsp' files to `.el'
files, type first `%m' with `\.lsp$' as regexp to mark all `.lsp'
files. Then type `%r' with `\.lsp$' and `.el' as REGEXP and NEWTEXT
arguments. Dired will prompt you for each file to be renamed.
Or to append `.old' to all marked files, use `%r' `$' `RET' `.old'
`RET', replacing the empty string at the end of each file name with
`.old'.
You can use the regexp `\(.+\)\.\(.+\)$' to make the basename as
`\1' and the extension as `\2' available in NEWTEXT.
With a zero prefix arg, renaming by regexp affects the complete
pathname. Usually only the non-directory part of file names is used
and changed, and renaming only takes place within the current
directory. The zero prefix argument can be used to change the
directory part as well.
Often you will want to apply the command to all files matching the
same REGEXP that you use in the command. Simply use the `%m' command
with REGEXP as argument, which will then also be the default for the
next regexp using command. For example, to remove a `V17I12-' prefix
from several filenames, use `%m' `^V17I12-' `RET' `%r' `RET' `RET',
in effect replacing the prefix with the empy string.
File: dired.info, Node: Other File Creating Commands, Next: Deleting Files With Dired, Prev: Renaming and More With Regexps, Up: Mark-using Commands
Other File Creating Commands
----------------------------
Commands to change the case of file names:
`%u'
(`dired-upcase') Rename each marked file to upper case.
`%l'
(`dired-downcase') Rename each marked file to lower case.
File: dired.info, Node: Deleting Files With Dired, Next: Dired Shell Commands, Prev: Other File Creating Commands, Up: Mark-using Commands
Deleting Files With Dired
-------------------------
Deleting is a special mark-using command. It uses a special marker,
`D', and does not default to the current file if no files are marked
to prevent accidental deletions.
*Note Dired Customization::, variable `dired-del-marker' to make
deleting behave exactly like any mark-using command.
`d'
(`dired-flag-file-deleted') Flag this file for deletion. If on
a subdirectory headerline, mark all its files except `.' and `..'.
`u'
(`dired-unmark-subdir-or-file') Remove deletion-flag on this line.
`DEL'
(`dired-backup-unflag') Remove deletion-flag on previous line,
moving point to that line.
`%d'
(`dired-flag-regexp-files') Flag all files containing the
specified REGEXP for deletion.
The match is against the non-directory part of the filename.
Use `^' and `$' to anchor matches. Exclude subdirs by hiding
them.
The special directories `.' and `..' are never flagged.
`x'
(`dired-do-deletions') Delete the files that are flagged for
deletion (with `D').
`X'
(`dired-do-delete') Delete the `*'-marked (as opposed to the
`D'-flagged) files.
`#'
(`dired-flag-auto-save-files') Flag all auto-save files (files
whose names start and end with `#') for deletion (*note
Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters: (emacs)Auto Save.).
`~'
(`dired-flag-backup-files') Flag all backup files (files whose
names end with `~') for deletion (*note Backup Files:
(emacs)Backup.).
`. (Period)'
(`dired-clean-directory') Flag excess numeric backup files for
deletion. The oldest and newest few backup files of any one
file are exempt; the middle ones are flagged.
You can flag a file for deletion by moving to the line describing
the file and typing `d' or `C-d'. The deletion flag is visible as a
`D' at the beginning of the line. Point is moved to the beginning of
the next line, so that repeated `d' commands flag successive files.
The files are flagged for deletion rather than deleted immediately
to avoid the danger of deleting a file accidentally. Until you
direct Dired to delete the flagged files, you can remove deletion
flags using the commands `u' and DEL. `u' works just like `d', but
removes flags rather than making flags. DEL moves upward, removing
flags; it is like `u' with numeric argument automatically negated.
To delete the flagged files, type `x'. This command first
displays a list of all the file names flagged for deletion, and
requests confirmation with `yes'. Once you confirm, all the flagged
files are deleted, and their lines are deleted from the text of the
Dired buffer. The shortened Dired buffer remains selected. If you
answer `no' or quit with `C-g', you return immediately to Dired, with
the deletion flags still present and no files actually deleted.
Deletions proceed from the end of the buffer, so if subdirs are in
a natural order in the buffer, it usually works to flag `dir1',
`dir1/dir2' and `dir1/dir2/*' (by typing `d' on the directory
headerlines) and delete everything, including `dir1/dir2' and `dir1'.
Using shell commands (e.g. `rm -rf') to remove complete directories
may be quicker than having Dired remove each file separately. (*Note
Dired Shell Commands::.) However, like all actions external to
Dired, this does not update the display.
The `#', `~' and `.' commands flag many files for deletion, based
on their names. These commands are useful precisely because they do
not actually delete any files; you can remove the deletion flags from
any flagged files that you really wish to keep.
`#' flags for deletion all files that appear to have been made by
auto-saving (that is, files whose names begin and end with `#'). `~'
flags for deletion all files that appear to have been made as backups
for files that were edited (that is, files whose names end with `~').
`.' (Period) flags just some of the backup files for deletion:
only numeric backups that are not among the oldest few nor the newest
few backups of any one file. Normally `dired-kept-versions' (not
`kept-new-versions'; that applies only when saving) specifies the
number of newest versions of each file to keep, and
`kept-old-versions' specifies the number of oldest versions to keep.
Period with a positive numeric argument, as in `C-u 3 .', specifies
the number of newest versions to keep, overriding
`dired-kept-versions'. A negative numeric argument overrides
`kept-old-versions', using minus the value of the argument to specify
the number of oldest versions of each file to keep.
File: dired.info, Node: Dired Shell Commands, Next: Compressing and Uncompressing, Prev: Deleting Files With Dired, Up: Mark-using Commands
Shell Commands on Marked files
------------------------------
You can run arbitrary shell commands on the marked files. If there is
output, it goes to a separate buffer.
`!'
(`dired-do-shell-command') Run a shell command on the marked
files.
A command string is prompted for in the minibuffer. The list of
marked files is appended to the command string unless asterisks `*'
indicate the place(s) where the list should go. Thus,
command -flags
is equivalent to
command -flags *
The filenames are inserted in the order they appear in the buffer.
The file listed topmost in the buffer will be the leftmost in the list.
Currently, there is no way to insert a real `*' into the command.
As with all mark-using commands, if no files are marked or a
specific numeric prefix arg is given, the current or the next N files
are used. The prompt mentions the file(s) or the marker, as
appropriate.
However, for shell commands, a zero argument is special. It means
to run command on each marked file separately:
cmd * |foo
results in
cmd F1 |foo; ...; cmd FN |foo
Usually
cmd F1 ... FN |foo
would be executed.
No automatic redisplay is attempted because Dired cannot know what
files should be redisplayed for a general shell command. For
example, a `tar cvf' will not change the marked files at all, but
rather create a new file, while a `ci -u -m'...' *' will probably
change the permission bits of all marked files.
Type `l' to redisplay just the marked files, or `l' on a directory
headerline to redisplay just that directory, or `g' to redisplay all
directories.
The shell command has the top level directory as working
directory, so output files usually are created there instead of in a
subdirectory, which may sometimes be surprising if all files come
from the same subdirectory. Just remember that an Emacs buffer can
have but one working directory, and this is the top level directory
in Dired buffers.
Examples for shell commands:
* Type `!' and
tar cvf foo.tar
to tar all marked files into a `foo.tar' file. Dired does not
know that a new file has been created and you have to type `g'
to refresh the listing. If you have several subdirectories in
your Dired buffer, the names given to `tar' will be relative to
the top level directory, and the output file `foo.tar' will also
be created there.
You can use
tar cvf - * | compress -c > foo.tar.Z
as an alternative to immediately compress the tar file.
* Type `0 !' and
uudecode
to uudecode each of the marked files. Note the use of the zero
prefix argument to apply the shell command to each file
separately (uudecode doesn't accept a list of input files).
Type `g' afterwards to see the created files.
* Type `0 !' and
uuencode * * >*.uu
to uuencode each of the marked files, writing into a
corresponding `.uu' file. Note the use of the zero prefix
argument to apply the shell command to each file separately.
Type `g' afterwards to see the created `.uu' files.
* Type `1 !' and
mail joe@somewhere <*
to mail the current file (note the prefix argument `1') to user
`joe@somewhere'.
* Here is a Dired shell command to execute the current file,
assuming no other files are marked (else just give the prefix
`1' to `!'):
./*
which will be expanded to `./CMD', thus CMD will be executed..
(Just `./' would be expanded to `./ CMD', with an intervening
`SPC'.) This will work even if you don't have `.' in your
`$PATH'. If `.' is in your path (not a good idea, as you will
find out if you dired a directory containing a file named `ls'),
