Hide ls output when no such file or directory

[olacelle]

Hi,

I haven't found an answer to this in the ls MAN page.
Is there a way to not output the result of ls when the result is no such file or directory?; to only display the output when actual files are found?

Thank you.

olacelle

[vickey_20]

If you are having trouble in typing the name of the file exactly as it is, you can use the TAB key after typing the initials . LS command is configured to work that way i.e it displays an error when the file or folder is not present.

[saivin]

Hi,

I haven't found an answer to this in the ls MAN page.
Is there a way to not output the result of ls when the result is no such file or directory?; to only display the output when actual files are found?

Thank you.

olacelle

Redirecting the standard error is the way. Like this:

ls testme 2> /dev/null

If you want to make it persistent add alias to your .bashrc file in your home directory as:

echo "alias ls='ls 2> /dev/null' " >> ~/.bashrc

then run ~/.bashrc so that these changes take effect as

. ~/.bashrc

The above line is a . (period) followed by a SPACE and then ~/.bashrc. Then if you want to test it, run

ls meow

[vickey_20]

Perfect solution I regret why it didn't come in my mind. Keep it up saivin

[olacelle]

I didn't know about the '2>' that's perfect for me!
Thanks to both of you for your replies.

olacelle

[vickey_20]

When ever you execute a command it either ends up as in success or in error . When error occurs you get the error on standard output i.e you monitor . In the case of LS command with wrong input the error was getting displayed on the screen, using the '2>' we have redirected the error to something that graceously takes care of it and doesn't display it on the monitor( STDoutput).