[SOLVED] column alignment in "ls -l" command

Skaperen · 03-13-2011, 02:10 PM

Is there a way to get the "ls -l" command to align its columns (e.g. force a fixed size) when the command is executed individually for each file to be listed (e.g. in a script loop or such)? Right now, I get ragged/jagged columns because "ls -l" is trying to make each listing compact horizontally. But as file sizes, and lengths of owner names, and such vary, the overall length of each output instance varies, making the columns ragged.

LionOfGod · 03-13-2011, 02:25 PM

Im no pro, but cant you just pipe it?

Code:

ls -l | less

Or something like that??
EDIT
sorry im an idiot, of course that wont work X|
EDIT
Why dont you open up vi, or a text editor, and run the command from their? that way you can scroll to the sides

jsteel · 03-13-2011, 02:54 PM

Is an "ls -1" (that's a "one") which will list everything in one column a solution? Or do you need the other information that is provided by "ls -l"?

Reuti · 03-13-2011, 03:20 PM

You could use the output of ls -lh by printf to reformat it:

Code:

$ printf "%9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s\n" $(ls -l foobar)

(adjust to your needs). I would use awk to process the output of ls -l, as then it's known to be $1..$8.

Skaperen · 03-13-2011, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LionOfGod

Im no pro, but cant you just pipe it?

Code:

ls -l | less

Or something like that??
EDIT
sorry im an idiot, of course that wont work X|
EDIT
Why dont you open up vi, or a text editor, and run the command from their? that way you can scroll to the sides

The command is being run from inside a script, once per file, as the script processes files.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsteel

Is an "ls -1" (that's a "one") which will list everything in one column a solution? Or do you need the other information that is provided by "ls -l"?

I need the other information, which is why I'm doing "ls -l" (actually, "ls -dGil" for the script I'm editing on today, but there are others).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reuti

You could use the output of ls -lh by printf to reformat it:

Code:

$ printf "%9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s %9s\n" $(ls -l foobar)

(adjust to your needs). I would use awk to process the output of ls -l, as then it's known to be $1..$8.

That might work. I'll give both ways a try. As long as the format "ls -l" uses stays constant, then $1..$8 or whatever should be consistent. Someone on IRC also suggested formatting with the find command and -printf.

Skaperen · 04-08-2011, 07:58 AM

The ultimate solution when listing one file at a time, is to use "find" with fixed -printf formatting, instead of "ls". It is more complex, but more powerful. This is more useful in a script than as a manually typed command. Be sure to use "-maxdepth 0" if what you list could include directories and you don't want the while directory tree to be recursed through.