UNIX Tutorial

Typographical conventions

In what follows, we shall use the following typographical conventions:

  • Characters written in bold typewriter font are commands to
    be typed into the computer as they stand.
  • Characters written in italic typewriter font indicate
    non-specific file or directory names.
  • Words inserted within square brackets [Ctrl] indicate keys
    to be pressed.

So, for example,

% ls anydirectory [Enter]

means “at the UNIX prompt %, type ls followed by the name of some directory,
then press the key marked Enter”

Don’t forget to press the [Enter] key: commands are not sent to the computer
until this is done.

Note: UNIX is case-sensitve, so LS is not the same as ls.

The same applies to filenames, so myfile.txt, MyFile.txt and MYFILE.TXT are
three seperate files. Beware if copying files to a PC, since DOS and Windows
do not make this distinction.

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M.Stonebank@surrey.ac.uk, © 1 November, 2002

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