File and directory entries in UNIX-style format

When listing files and directories on a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server, IBM® i clients list the files in both the IBM i format and the UNIX-style format. This topic discusses the UNIX format.

Here is the UNIX-style format for the LIST subcommand (when LISTFMT=1):

mode links owner group size date time name

A blank space separates each field.

This is a description of each field in the UNIX-style format:

mode
You can use 10 characters. Each character has a specific meaning.
The first character Meaning
d The entry is a directory.
b The entry is a block special file.
c The entry is a character special file.
l The entry is a symbolic link. Either the -N flag was specified, or the symbolic link did not point to an existing file.
p The entry is a first-in, first-out (FIFO) special file.
s The entry is a local socket.
- The entry is an ordinary file.

The next nine characters divide into three sets of three characters each. The three characters in each set indicate, respectively, read, write, and execute permission of the file. With execute permission of a directory, you can search a directory for a specified file. Indicate permissions like this: The first set of three characters show the owner's permission. The next set of three characters show the permission of the other users in the group. The last set of three characters shows the permission of anyone else with access to the file.

The first character Function
r read
w write (edit)
x execute (search)
- corresponding permission not granted
links
The number of links to the object. The minimum number of characters is 3. The maximum number of characters is 5. The characters are right justified, and they include blanks.
owner
The owner of the object. The minimum number of characters is 8. The maximum number of characters is 10. The characters are left justified, and they include blanks. This field contains the user profile name of the object owner. However, for anonymous FTP sessions, this field contains the owner ID number.
group
The owner of the object. The minimum number of characters is 8. The maximum number of characters is 10. The characters are left justified, and they include blanks. This field contains the user profile name of the group. However, if there is no group, this field contains the group ID number. The field also contains the group ID number for an anonymous FTP session.
size
The size of the object. The minimum number of characters is 7. The maximum number of characters is 10. The characters are right-aligned, and they include blanks. When there is no size for the object, the default is zero.
datetime
The 12 character modification time. The characters are left-aligned, and they include blanks. This is the format of this field when the modification time is within the previous 180 days:
Mmm dd hh:mm

This is the format of this field when the modification time is not within the previous 180 days:

Mmm dd yyyy
Here is the description of each field.
Characters Meaning
Mmm Abbreviated month.
dd Two character day of the month. The characters are right justified and padded with blanks.
hh Two-digit hour (00-23). The digits are right justified and padded with zeros.
mm Two-digit minute (00-59). The digits are right justified and padded with zeros.
yyyy Four-digit year.
name
The variable length name of the object, which precedes a CRLF (carriage return, line feed pair). The name may include blanks.

Here is an example of the UNIX style format:

drwxrwxrwx   4 QSYS           0    51200 Feb  9 21:28 home

Consider this information as you work with UNIX format data that is returned by the LIST subcommand: When LISTFMT=1, the LIST content varies for QSYS.LIB files depending on the NAMEFMT setting:

  • When NAMEFMT=1, you will see only the QSYS.LIB file names.
  • When NAMEFMT=0, you will see both the QSYS.LIB file names and the names of the members in the file or files.