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A shell is a UNIX system command processor. It's a command language to tell the system what to do. There are two major shell (command interpreter) families:
Bourne, Korn, Bash Shell
C Shell
The syntax of UNIX shell commands can vary from one shell to another.
At UQAM we use the Bourne Again Shell (bash) for the environment but often Korn Shell (ksh) for scripting. Therefore all commands below are bash commands.
Anatomy of a
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shell Command
command-name [-option(s) filename(s) or arguments]
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man can be use on almost all of the UNIX shell commands listed below.
Important
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note about shell commands
Shell UNIX/Linux is case sensitive. Type commands exactly as shown; most UNIX shell commands are lower case. File and directory names can be lower, upper, or mixed case but must be typed exactly as listed.
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A number of characters are interpreted by the Unix shell before any other action takes place. These characters are known as wildcard characters. Usually these characters are used in place of filenames or directory names.
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