Changing the order of columns displayed with `ls`

Question

Is it possible to change the order of displayed columns when running ls -l on *nix (or dir on Windows)?

For example, I'd like to see the date modified, then the name, then other fields (or select only the ones I want, and their order.

How would this be done without merely using cut and trimming undesired fields (since that does not address the issue of re-ordering)?

as a note regarding cut, you'd get more milage out of awk in this case. ls -al | awk '{print $3 " " $1}' — Sirex, Commented Jul 15, 2011 at 11:27

glenn jackman · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-15 14:20:34Z

3

I'd avoid parsing ls at all: use stat and sort:

stat --printf="%y\t%n\t%F\t%s\n" * | sort -t $'\t' -k 2

is a start.

answered Jul 15, 2011 at 14:20

glenn jackman

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2

and what would be the equivalent for mac ? On mac I am getting stat: illegal option -- - usage: stat [-FlLnqrsx] [-f format] [-t timefmt] [file ...]
– ishandutta2007
Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 11:07
1

What does the man page say?
– glenn jackman
Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 11:48
this docs.google.com/document/d/…
– ishandutta2007
Commented Oct 18, 2019 at 3:57
It would be nice to provide answers, in addition to the one you provided here, that would work on other platforms like Mac OSx. We come here to find answers to our questions; it's a bit obnoxious that we get an answer that doesn't work when, if you understand what you're putting together, shouldn't be that much more work for you. Referring us to the man page isn't always helpful. That's why we come here because man pages are about as clear as mud.
– A.Ellett
Commented Jun 2 at 15:17

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