BINF511 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
What is a binary file? - Answer A file that is machine readable. It requires an interpreter
to be human readable.
What is the purpose of a README file? - Answer They are plain text files that give basic
information about the directory or software. These are often used to ensure the user
knows the purpose of the directory. They are especially useful in multiuser systems.
Based on the given tree, what is the absolute path to phone numbers.txt - Answer /user
1/desktop/phone numbers.txt/
Based on the given tree, give the relative path from info.pdf to user 2 - Answer
../../../user 2/
What are the parts of this UNIX prompt:
hugin:~stromvik% - Answer hugin: = computer name
~ = home directory
stromvik = login username
% = prompt (can be various systems %$>)
what does the unix comand pwd do? - Answer prints the working directory
what does the unix command ls do? - Answer prints a list of the contents of the working
directory
what does the unix command ls -l do? - Answer long list - it prints a list of the contents of
the working directory with more details than the standard ls
If a file had the permission 764 what would it mean? - Answer The owner can read, write
and execute. The group can read and write. The world can read.
what are the numerical values associated with the read, write and execute permissions?
- Answer read = 4
write = 2
execute = 1
in what order do the permissions occur? - Answer owner, group, world
what does the unix command chmod do? - Answer allows you to change the file
permissions
what does the unix command cd do? - Answer allows the user to change the working
directory (can use absolute or relative path)
,what unix command will display the username? - Answer whoami
what does the the unix command cp do? - Answer copies the specified file to the
specified location
what does the unix command mv do? - Answer 1. it can make a copy of the file if you
choose a file name as the location
2. it will move the specified file to the specified directory
what unix command will make a new directory? - Answer mkdir
what does the unix command rm do? - Answer removes the specified file
how can you find what a unix command does? - Answer man (command)
what is the unix shell? - Answer the interpreter for the unix commands. Commands can
vary between different shells
what is the standard in and standard out? - Answer standard in: the terminal where you
tell the computer what to do by typing a command and pressing enter
standard out: the terminal where the computer prints to the screen in response to a
command. the standard out is used unless another location is specified.
what does the unix command cat do? - Answer flashes the contents of the specified file
to the standard out.
what do the unix commands more and less do? - Answer allow you to page through the
specified file.
when using more or less, what are the keys to page down, page up, and quit? - Answer
page down = space
page up = b
quit = q
what does the unix command head do? - Answer shows the first part of the specified file.
The number of lines shown can be specified using -# after.
what does the unix command tail do? - Answer shows the last part of the specified file.
The number of lines can be specified using -# after.
what symbol is used to indicate that the contents of a file are to be used as the input in
unix? - Answer <
What is the difference between the > and >> in unix? - Answer > prints to the specified
file and will overwrite the existing file if it already exists.
>> adds the output to the end of an existing file
,what is the purpose of the * in unix? - Answer it is a wildcard. It will match multiple files
at the same time. For example, *.txt will match all files ending in .txt
what does the unix command wc do? - Answer returns the newline, word, and byte
counts for the specified file.
what does the grep command do? - Answer searches the specified file for the specified
string.
what are 5 grep varients? - Answer -v = inverts the command so it returns non-matching
strings
-i = ignores case, so it will match a or A
--color = changes the colour of the matching regions
-c = counts the number of occurances of the string
-o = only returns matching parts (only really useful when working with wild cards)
what does the symbol "|" (pipe) do in unix? - Answer uses the output of the command
before it as the input for the command after it.
What does the unix command split do - Answer it will split the specified string(s) into
chunks by the given deliminator (d) and place the chunks into the specified array (x).
split s x d
what does the unix command cut do? - Answer cuts out specified columns. default
delimination is tab.
what does a vi editor do? - Answer it allows you to edit a file in the unix window.
how do you open the vi editor in unix? - Answer type vi followed by the file name.
what does typing i in a vi editor do? - Answer goes into insert mode and allows you to
add something to the file. press esc to exit insert mode
how do you save, save and quit, and quit without saving in a vi editor? - Answer save = w
[return]
save and quit = wq [return]
quit without saving = q! [return]
what is a tarball - Answer it is an archive of your filesystem that does not compress the
file size.
how to you create a tar (tape archive) in unix? - Answer type tar. it will add the extension
.tar to the file
, how do you compress your file in unix? - Answer gzip. it will ad the extension .gz
what does the unix command gunzip do? - Answer uncompresses the specified file.
what is safe file transfer protocol (sftp)? - Answer it is an electronic way to transfer files
between a local and remote computer.
how to you establish a connection between two computers for a safe file transfer
protocol? - Answer after the local computers prompt, type sftp and the name of the
computer you are connecting to (usually your username on that computer@IPadress)
What are the rules for file names using unix? - Answer you can use . and _. You can not
use spaces or other special characters.
what do the unix commands put and mput do when using safe file transfer protocol? -
Answer put = moves 1 file from local machine to remote machine
mput = moves multiple files from local machine to remote machine
what do the unix commands get and mget do when using safe file transfer protocol? -
Answer get = moves 1 file from the remote machine to the local machine
mget = moves multiple files from the remote machine to the local machine
What is the purpose of a loop in unix - Answer it allows you to automate a task that you
want done to multiple files so you do not need to type the same commands repeatedly
what does the unix command echo do? - Answer it prints whatever is on the rest of the
line is to the standard out.
how do you stop a loop in unix? - Answer type end as the last line
What does HTML stand for? - Answer Hypertext Markup Language
what is HTML used for? - Answer programming language to structure and format
information for webpages
what is XML? - Answer Extensible Markup Language
what is XML used for? - Answer to write files that can be parsed easily. The goal is to
What is a binary file? - Answer A file that is machine readable. It requires an interpreter
to be human readable.
What is the purpose of a README file? - Answer They are plain text files that give basic
information about the directory or software. These are often used to ensure the user
knows the purpose of the directory. They are especially useful in multiuser systems.
Based on the given tree, what is the absolute path to phone numbers.txt - Answer /user
1/desktop/phone numbers.txt/
Based on the given tree, give the relative path from info.pdf to user 2 - Answer
../../../user 2/
What are the parts of this UNIX prompt:
hugin:~stromvik% - Answer hugin: = computer name
~ = home directory
stromvik = login username
% = prompt (can be various systems %$>)
what does the unix comand pwd do? - Answer prints the working directory
what does the unix command ls do? - Answer prints a list of the contents of the working
directory
what does the unix command ls -l do? - Answer long list - it prints a list of the contents of
the working directory with more details than the standard ls
If a file had the permission 764 what would it mean? - Answer The owner can read, write
and execute. The group can read and write. The world can read.
what are the numerical values associated with the read, write and execute permissions?
- Answer read = 4
write = 2
execute = 1
in what order do the permissions occur? - Answer owner, group, world
what does the unix command chmod do? - Answer allows you to change the file
permissions
what does the unix command cd do? - Answer allows the user to change the working
directory (can use absolute or relative path)
,what unix command will display the username? - Answer whoami
what does the the unix command cp do? - Answer copies the specified file to the
specified location
what does the unix command mv do? - Answer 1. it can make a copy of the file if you
choose a file name as the location
2. it will move the specified file to the specified directory
what unix command will make a new directory? - Answer mkdir
what does the unix command rm do? - Answer removes the specified file
how can you find what a unix command does? - Answer man (command)
what is the unix shell? - Answer the interpreter for the unix commands. Commands can
vary between different shells
what is the standard in and standard out? - Answer standard in: the terminal where you
tell the computer what to do by typing a command and pressing enter
standard out: the terminal where the computer prints to the screen in response to a
command. the standard out is used unless another location is specified.
what does the unix command cat do? - Answer flashes the contents of the specified file
to the standard out.
what do the unix commands more and less do? - Answer allow you to page through the
specified file.
when using more or less, what are the keys to page down, page up, and quit? - Answer
page down = space
page up = b
quit = q
what does the unix command head do? - Answer shows the first part of the specified file.
The number of lines shown can be specified using -# after.
what does the unix command tail do? - Answer shows the last part of the specified file.
The number of lines can be specified using -# after.
what symbol is used to indicate that the contents of a file are to be used as the input in
unix? - Answer <
What is the difference between the > and >> in unix? - Answer > prints to the specified
file and will overwrite the existing file if it already exists.
>> adds the output to the end of an existing file
,what is the purpose of the * in unix? - Answer it is a wildcard. It will match multiple files
at the same time. For example, *.txt will match all files ending in .txt
what does the unix command wc do? - Answer returns the newline, word, and byte
counts for the specified file.
what does the grep command do? - Answer searches the specified file for the specified
string.
what are 5 grep varients? - Answer -v = inverts the command so it returns non-matching
strings
-i = ignores case, so it will match a or A
--color = changes the colour of the matching regions
-c = counts the number of occurances of the string
-o = only returns matching parts (only really useful when working with wild cards)
what does the symbol "|" (pipe) do in unix? - Answer uses the output of the command
before it as the input for the command after it.
What does the unix command split do - Answer it will split the specified string(s) into
chunks by the given deliminator (d) and place the chunks into the specified array (x).
split s x d
what does the unix command cut do? - Answer cuts out specified columns. default
delimination is tab.
what does a vi editor do? - Answer it allows you to edit a file in the unix window.
how do you open the vi editor in unix? - Answer type vi followed by the file name.
what does typing i in a vi editor do? - Answer goes into insert mode and allows you to
add something to the file. press esc to exit insert mode
how do you save, save and quit, and quit without saving in a vi editor? - Answer save = w
[return]
save and quit = wq [return]
quit without saving = q! [return]
what is a tarball - Answer it is an archive of your filesystem that does not compress the
file size.
how to you create a tar (tape archive) in unix? - Answer type tar. it will add the extension
.tar to the file
, how do you compress your file in unix? - Answer gzip. it will ad the extension .gz
what does the unix command gunzip do? - Answer uncompresses the specified file.
what is safe file transfer protocol (sftp)? - Answer it is an electronic way to transfer files
between a local and remote computer.
how to you establish a connection between two computers for a safe file transfer
protocol? - Answer after the local computers prompt, type sftp and the name of the
computer you are connecting to (usually your username on that computer@IPadress)
What are the rules for file names using unix? - Answer you can use . and _. You can not
use spaces or other special characters.
what do the unix commands put and mput do when using safe file transfer protocol? -
Answer put = moves 1 file from local machine to remote machine
mput = moves multiple files from local machine to remote machine
what do the unix commands get and mget do when using safe file transfer protocol? -
Answer get = moves 1 file from the remote machine to the local machine
mget = moves multiple files from the remote machine to the local machine
What is the purpose of a loop in unix - Answer it allows you to automate a task that you
want done to multiple files so you do not need to type the same commands repeatedly
what does the unix command echo do? - Answer it prints whatever is on the rest of the
line is to the standard out.
how do you stop a loop in unix? - Answer type end as the last line
What does HTML stand for? - Answer Hypertext Markup Language
what is HTML used for? - Answer programming language to structure and format
information for webpages
what is XML? - Answer Extensible Markup Language
what is XML used for? - Answer to write files that can be parsed easily. The goal is to
