Chip Designer’s Code

Automation and Programming in VLSI

Chapter 2 : Linux – Part 1 : Navigation

LINUX
Command Line
TCL PYTHON REGEX
&
Scripting

Amr Adel Mohammady

VCS /amradelm

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MAKEFILE
Introduction

• In this part, we will start our journey with Linux by learning how to move around directories and view their contents.
• Commands Covered
o pwd : Print current working directory
o ls : List contents of a directory
o tree : List contents of a directory in a tree-like format
o cd : Change the current directory
o pushd , popd, dirs : Handle Linux directory stack.
o xdg-open : Open GUI

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Opening The Terminal

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The Terminal
• The terminal, also known as the command-line interface (CLI), is a text-based way to
interact with the Linux operating system.
• Unlike graphical user interfaces (GUIs), you type commands instead of clicking icons.
• There are several ways to open the Terminal.
1. Keyboard Shortcut : Press Ctrl + Alt + T
2. Application Menu : Click on Application -> System Tools -> Terminal
3. Right Click Context Menu : Right-Click on your mouse then select “Open Terminal”

(2) Application Menu

(3) Right Click Context Menu

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The Terminal

• You should have a window similar to this.

• Colors may be different depending on your default settings.

The Terminal

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Linux Command Format

• Before we start learning the different commands in Linux we need to learn some
notations.
• Commands in Linux follow this general format:
command_name [options] arguments
o Arguments : Provide input or targets for the command to act on.
o Options : Also called flags or switches. They are modifiers added to a command
to alter its behavior. They allow you to customize how a command works. They
start with a hyphen -
o Example : the command “cat [options] [arguments]” prints the contents cat without options
of a file
• It takes as an argument the file you want to print.
• It can take options such as “-n” to print line numbers
o The brackets “[ ]” around the word options indicate they are optional, meaning
you can omit them.
o Some commands also don’t require an argument to work. In that case the
command will be shown as :
command_name [options] [arguments]
cat with -n option

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Navigation

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Navigation

• Navigation means to move around the Linux directories, open them and see the contents inside.
• Directory Structure:
• Linux organizes files in a hierarchical tree starting from the root directory (/).
• The root directory is the main jumbo directory that includes all the Linux files and directories under it. Think of it as the “C:\” in
Windows
• We will discuss the Linux directory structure in detail in the next part.

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pwd

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Current Working Directory

• Current Working Directory: Is your "location" in the filesystem at any given time. In GUI, it’s the current opened folder/directory in the
window.
• We have several ways to know the current working directory :
• The Prompt: it shows the current working directory and other info such as the username and the hostname1.
• The tilda “~” symbol refers to the home directory /home/username. It’s similar to the Desktop directory in Windows.
• pwd : A command that prints the current working directory.

Current Directory
username hostname

pwd
Symbol to the home directory

The Prompt

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[1] We will later learn how to customize the prompt to include the info we desire. /amradelm 10
ls

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ls Human-readable Sizes

• We know where we are. Now we need to know where

we can go. To do that we will use the ls command.
• Usage : ls [options] [arguments]
o The ls command is used to list directory contents
(files and directories).
o Usually, directories and files are printed in ls (no options) ls –lh (long format + human readable)
different colors to distinguish between both.
• ls options: Hidden Files
o -l : Print content in long format showing more
details for each content
o -t : Sort by modification time (newest first).
o -r : Reverse the sorting order (e.g., oldest first with
-tr).
o -h : Print the sizes in human-readable format ls –l (long format)
(used with –l)
o -a : Show hidden files1
o -1 : Print contents one per line. ls –la (long format + hidden files)

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[1] In Linux, hidden files are files starting with a dot (.) (e.g. .my_hidden_file) /amradelm 12
 ls Long Format Information

Owner : The user who owns the

file or directory.
User Permissions : Shows who can: r (read)
w (write/edit) x (execute) the file. Group : The group (collection of users e.g. IT team)
Will be discussed in details later who owns the file or directory.

Type : d (directory) or – (file)

Size in Bytes : In case of directories, it shows the size

Last Modification Time
of the meta-data about files contained in that directory

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Options vs Arguments

• So far we haven’t given ls an argument we only gave it options.

• When you don’t give ls an argument it lists the contents of the current working directory by default.
• You can give ls a path to a directory to list the contents of that directory
• You can give ls a path to a file. This is useful when combined with –l option to print detailed info about that file.

ls With Directory As An Argument

ls With File As An Argument

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Absolute Path vs Relative Path

• Since we gave ls a path, it’s important to know the different types of paths:
• Absolute path:
o The path to a file or directory starting from the root directory “/”
o Example : /home/amr_adel/report.txt
• Relative path:
o The path to a file or directory starting from the current directory.
o Example : ./amr_adel/report.txt (Assuming the current working directory is /home)

Absolute Path Relative Path

Starting Point Root (/) Current directory (.)

Depends on current
Portability Works from anywhere
directory
Shorter (context-
Length Longer (explicit)
dependent)

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[1] The symbol of the root directory is “/” while the symbol of the current directory is “.” (dot) /amradelm 15
tree

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tree

• Tree prints the contents of a directory in a tree like format.

• It also shows the directory recursively (sub directories)1
• Usage : tree [options] [arguments]
• Options:
o -p : Print user permissions
o -t : Sort by modification time (newest first).
o -r : Reverse the sorting order (e.g., oldest first with -tr). tree -p

o -a : Show hidden files

o -d : Show directories only tree (no options)

o -L <N> : Limit the output to N levels.

Level 0

Level 1

Level 2
tree –L 2

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[1] You can do the same with ls using –R option but it’s not readable compared to tree /amradelm 17
tree

• Options:
o -f : print paths relative to the current working dir
• Like ls you can give tree a relative or absolute path
• When no path is given, tree lists the contents of the
current working dir

tree (no options) tree -f

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cd

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Options vs Arguments

• We now know where we are and where we can go. Now it’s time to start moving.
• cd stands for change directory; from its name, it’s used to change the current working directory.
• Usage : cd [argument]
o The argument can be an absolute or relative path.
o cd : If you don’t provide a path, it goes to the home directory by default. cd == cd ~ == cd /home/amr_adel
o cd / : Go to the root directory
o You can go several directories down relative to the current dir: cd ./amr_adel/Documents
o cd ../ : Go to the parent directory (one dir up)
o cd ../../ : Go to the parent of the parent directory (two dirs up) cd Several Directories Down

o cd - : Switch back to the previous (not parent) directory

▪ Example: Suppose you are in /home/amr_adel/Documents and move to /var/log:
▪ If you type cd – you will return to /home/amr_adel/Documents. If you type cd – again you will return to /var/log
▪ This allow you to navigate back without needing to remember or type the full path.

cd -

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Directory Stack
pushd, popd, dirs.

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Stack : Last-In First-Out
• cd - switches only between the last two directories.
• It would be nice if we could leverage this feature into a more powerful
command(s).
• Directory stack commands “pushd, popd, dirs” allow you to jump back and
forth between different directories without typing the full paths.
• Let’s first learn what a stack is:
o It’s a linear data structure that follows the LIFO (Last-In, First-Out) principle.
o The last item added is the first one removed. Stack Operation

o Example : The image shows a stack operation

▪ The action to insert an item is called Push. It places the pushed item on
the top of the stack
▪ We push A, B, then C.
▪ The action to take an item from the stack is called pop. The popped item is
the top item in the stack
▪ Since C is the top item (last-in). It is the item that will get popped (first
out).

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pushd - popd - dirs

• The Linux directory stack works in the same manner:

o pushd <dir>: "Push" the current working directory onto the stack and then cd <dir>1.
o popd: "Pop" the top directory from the stack and cd into it.
o dirs: Display the current contents of the directory stack.
o The cd command doesn’t affect the content of the stack.

Linux Directory Stack Operation

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[1] Notice that the directory that gets pushed is the current working directory, not the <dir> arguments /amradelm 23
pushd - popd - dirs
• I found the best usage of the directory stack is to use it as a memory like this:
1. At the beginning of your work day push the different directories you are likely to cycle through during your work:
▪ push –n <path_to_project>1
▪ push –n <path_to_scratch_area>
[1]
▪ push –n <path_to_coworker_area> .. Etc
2. Whenever you want to go to a directory inside the stack:
o dirs -v : to print the directory stack2
o Copy the desired directory
3. cd <paste> [2]

[3]

Stack Operation (-n option)

[1] pushd –n option makes you store <path> in the directory stack instead of cd into it. The current working directory stays unchanged.
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[2] dirs –v option prints the stack contents one per line which is easier to read.
xdg-open

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xdg-open

• If at any point you want to switch from the CLI to the GUI you can use the command xdg-open
• Usage : xdg-open argument
• xdg-open /path/to/directory : This command will open the specified directory in the default GUI file explorer
• xdg-open . : Open the current working directory in the GUI explorer
• xdg-open /path/to/file : This command will open the specified file with the default application associated with its file type. For
example, a PDF file will open in the default PDF viewer, and a text file will open in the default text editor.
• xdg-open www.example.com : This command will open the specified URL in the default web browser.
• You can give the command multiple arguments to open them at once.

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Conclusion
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Conclusion

• We learned how to navigate Linux and learned the main commands used.
• We also learned the difference between a command option and an argument
• We also learned the difference between relative and absolute paths
• In the next part we will discuss the Linux directory structure and how it relates to EDA tools.

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Thank You!

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