dir_colors - configuration file for dircolors(1)


DESCRIPTION

       The  program ls(1) uses the environment variable LS_COLORS
       to determine in what color the filenames  should  be  dis­
       played.   This  environment  variable  is usually set by a
       command like
              eval `dircolors some_path/dir_colors`
       found in a system default shell initialization file,  like
       /etc/profile  or /etc/csh.cshrc.  (See also dircolors(1).)
       Usually, the file used here is /etc/DIR_COLORS and can  be
       overridden  by a .dir_colors file in one's home directory.

       This configuration file consists  of  several  statements,
       one per line.  Anything right of a hash mark (hash mark is
       at the beginning of a line or is preceded by at least  one
       whitespace.  Blank lines are ignored.

       The  global  section of the file consists of any statement
       before the first TERM statement.   Any  statement  in  the
       global  section  of  the  file is considered valid for all
       terminal types.  Following the global section  is  one  or
       more terminal-specific sections, which are preceded by one
       or more TERM statements which specify the  terminal  types
       (as  given by the TERM environment variable) the following
       declarations apply for.  It is always possible to override
       a  global  declaration  by  a subsequent terminal-specific
       one.

       The following statements are recognized, case is insignif­
       icant:

       TERM terminal-type
              Starts  a  terminal-specific  section and specifies
              which terminal it applies to.  Multiple TERM state­
              ments can be used to create a section which applies
              for several terminal types.

       COLOR yes|all|no|none|tty
              Specifies  that  colorization  should   be   always
              enabled (yes or all), never enabled (no or none) or
              enabled only if the output  is  a  terminal  (tty).
              The default is no.

       EIGHTBIT yes|no
              Specifies that eight-bit ISO 8859 characters should
              be enabled by default.  Can for compatibility  rea­
              sons  also  be  specified as 1 for yes or 0 for no.
              The default is no.

       OPTIONS options
              Adds command line options to the default ls command

              options, and should include the leading minus sign.
              Please  note  that  dircolors  does  not verify the
              validity of these options.

       NORMAL color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for normal  (non-filename)
              text.

       FILE color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for a regular file.

       DIR color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for directories.

       LINK color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for a symbolic link.

       ORPHAN color-sequence
              Specifies  the color used for an orphanned symbolic
              link (one which points to a nonexistent file).   If
              this  is  unspecified,  ls  will use the LINK color
              instead.

       MISSING color-sequence
              Specifies the color used  for  a  missing  file  (a
              nonexistent  file which nevertheless has a symbolic
              link pointing to it).  If this is  unspecified,  ls
              will use the FILE color instead.

       FIFO color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for a FIFO (named pipe).

       SOCK color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for a socket.

       BLK color-sequence
              Specifies the color used for a block device special
              file.

       CHR color-sequence
              Specifies the color used  for  a  character  device
              special file.

       EXEC color-sequence
              Specifies  the  color used for a file with the exe­
              cutable attribute set.

       LEFTCODE color-sequence
              Specifies the left code for non-ISO 6429  terminals
              (see below).

       RIGHTCODE color-sequence
              Specifies the right code for non-ISO 6429 terminals


       ENDCODE color-sequence
              Specifies the end code for  non-ISO 6429  terminals
              (see below).

       *extension color-sequence
              Specifies  the color used for any file that ends in
              extension.

        .extension color-sequence
              Same as *.extension.  Specifies the color used  for
              any  file  that  ends in .extension.  Note that the
              period is included in the extension, which makes it
              impossible  to  specify  an  extension not starting
              with a period, such as ~ for  emacs  backup  files.
              This form should be considered obsolete.


ISO 6429 (ANSI) COLOR SEQUENCES

       Most  color-capable  ASCII  terminals  today  use ISO 6429
       (ANSI) color sequences, and many common terminals  without
       color  capability, including xterm and the widely used and
       cloned DEC VT100, will recognize ISO 6429 color codes  and
       harmlessly eliminate them from the output or emulate them.
       ls uses ISO 6429 codes by default,  assuming  colorization
       is enabled.

       ISO 6429 color sequences are composed of sequences of num­
       bers separated by semicolons.  The most common codes are:

          0     to restore default color
          1     for brighter colors
          4     for underlined text
          5     for flashing text
         30     for black foreground
         31     for red foreground
         32     for green foreground
         33     for yellow (or brown) foreground
         34     for blue foreground
         35     for purple foreground
         36     for cyan foreground
         37     for white (or gray) foreground
         40     for black background
         41     for red background
         42     for green background
         43     for yellow (or brown) background
         44     for blue background
         45     for purple background
         46     for cyan background
         47     for white (or gray) background

       Not all commands will  work  on  all  systems  or  display
       devices.


         NORMAL   0       Normal (non-filename) text
         FILE     0       Regular file
         DIR      32      Directory
         LINK     36      Symbolic link
         ORPHAN   undefined       Orphanned symbolic link
         MISSING  undefined       Missing file
         FIFO     31      Named pipe (FIFO)
         SOCK     33      Socket
         BLK      44;37   Block device
         CHR      44;37   Character device
         EXEC     35      Executable file

       A few terminal programs do not recognize the default prop­
       erly.  If all text gets colorized after you do a directory
       listing, change the NORMAL and FILE codes to the numerical
       codes for your normal foreground and background colors.


OTHER TERMINAL TYPES (ADVANCED CONFIGURATION)

       If you have a color-capable  (or  otherwise  highlighting)
       terminal  (or  printer!)  which  uses  a  different set of
       codes, you can still generate a suitable setup.  To do  so
       you  will have to use the LEFTCODE, RIGHTCODE, and ENDCODE
       definitions.

       When writing out a filename, ls  generates  the  following
       output sequence: LEFTCODE typecode RIGHTCODE filename END­
       CODE, where  the  typecode  is  the  color  sequence  that
       depends  on  the  type or name of file.  If the ENDCODE is
       undefined, the sequence LEFTCODE NORMAL RIGHTCODE will  be
       used  instead.  The purpose of the left- and rightcodes is
       merely to reduce the amount of typing  necessary  (and  to
       hide  ugly  escape codes away from the user).  If they are
       not appropriate for your terminal, you can eliminate  them
       by  specifying the respective keyword on a line by itself.

       NOTE: If the ENDCODE is defined in the global  section  of
       the  setup file, it cannot be undefined in a terminal-spe­
       cific section of the file.  This means any NORMAL  defini­
       tion will have no effect.  A different ENDCODE can however
       be specified, which would have the same effect.


ESCAPE SEQUENCES

       To specify control-  or  blank  characters  in  the  color
       sequences or filename extensions, either C-style \-escaped
       notation, or stty-style ^-notation can be  used.   The  C-
       style notation includes the following characters:

         \a      Bell (ASCII 7)
         \b      Backspace (ASCII 8)
         \e      Escape (ASCII 27)
         \f      Form feed (ASCII 12)
         \n      Newline (ASCII 10)

         \t      Tab (ASCII 9)
         \v      Vertical Tab (ASCII 11)
         \?      Delete (ASCII 127)
         \nnn Any character (octal notation)
         \xnnn        Any character (hexadecimal notation)
         \_      Space
         \\     Backslash (\)
         \^      Caret (^)
         \#      Hash mark (#)

       Please  note  that escapes are necessary to enter a space,
       backslash, caret or any control character anywhere in  the
       string, as well as a hash mark as the first character.


NOTES

       The  default LEFTCODE and RIGHTCODE definitions, which are
       used by ISO 6429 terminals are:

         LEFTCODE  \e[
         RIGHTCODE m

       The default ENDCODE is undefined.


SEE ALSO

       dircolors(1), ls(1), stty(1), xterm(1)


FILES

       /etc/DIR_COLORS
              System-wide configuration file for dircolors.

       ~/.dir_colors
              Per-user configuration file for dircolors.


NOTES

       This page describes the dir_colors file format as found in
       the  fileutils-4.0  package;  other  versions  may  differ
       slightly.  Mail corrections and additions  to  aeb@cwi.nl.
       Report    bugs    in    the    program    to    fileutils-
       bugs@gnu.ai.mit.edu.


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