Useful Command Prompts
In the Java course I am taking our teacher uses the command line to program. I have started to get to grips with entering things in the command line. I have always been very scared of the terminal, but it is not so scary after all. A big hold back was knowing the commands, and what they do. So I have made a very basic list below of commands and described briefly what they do. It is an ongoing list, which I will continue to add to as the course goes on.
This is a list I’ll use for reference, if you happen to stumble upon this list and want to use some of the prompts please do a bit more research first as I am by no means an expert and don’t want to break your computer!
GENERAL
| Prompt | Short | Long |
| cd [name of directory] | change directory | change the folder you are in, like clicking on a folder |
| cd .. | go back a directory | moves you back one folder, like the back arrow |
| ls | list directory | see all the files / folders in the current directory you are in |
| mv | move a file | move a file to another directory e.g. mv ~/Desktop/hello.abc /Folder/somewhere_else |
| mv | move a directory | move a file to another directory e.g. mv ~/Desktop/myFolder /Folder/somewhere_else |
| mv + rename | move and rename | move a file to another directory and rename it e.g. mv ~/Desktop/hello.abc /Folder/somewhere_else/goodbye.abc |
| mv *many | move lots | move multiple file to another directory e.g. mv ~/Desktop/*.abc /Folder/somewhere_else |
| cp | copy a file | copy a file to another directory e.g. cp ~/Desktop/hello.abc ~/Documents |
| cp -R | copy a directory | copy a whole directory to another directory e.g. cp ~/Desktop/myFolder ~/Documents |
| cp + rename | copy and rename | copy a file to another directory and rename it e.g. cp ~/Desktop/hello.abc ~/Documents/goodbye.abc |
| cp *many | copy lots | copy multiple files into to another directory e.g. cp ~/Desktop/*.abc ~/Documents |
| mkdir | make directory | when in directory e.g. mkdir MyDirectory can make multiple directories e.g. mkdir MyDirectory1 MyDirectory2 MyDirectory3 |
VIM
| vi [name of file] | open in vim | opens the file with name you insert in vim so that you can edit |
| (when in vim) i | edit in vim | like actually opening a file so you can edit |
| (when in vim) :w | save (write) | like saving a file |
| (when in vim) :q | quit vim | get out of vim and back into the “terminal” |
IMAGEMAGICK
Some – – – > resources.
convert = makes new file
mogrify = overwrites file
| mogrify resize | modify size | warning! will overwrite the file, make a copy first! modifies the file in various ways. need to be in the directory e.g. <mogrify -resize 1000 hello.jpg (will make width 1000) |
| convert | convert the file format |
e.g. convert rose.jpg rose.png
|
COMPILE / RUN
| javac [name of file] | compile in java | like compile / flash |
| java [name of file] | run java program | like running a sketch, need to be in the same directory as the java file |
| python [name of file] | run python program | like running a sketch, need to be in the same directory as the python file |