mv.html

IEEE 1003.1-2003, Single Unix Specification v3

IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, <a href="../basedefs/xbd_chap08.html#tag_08_02">Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables</a> for
the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine the values of locale categories.)</dd>

<dt><i>LC_ALL</i></dt>

<dd>If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other internationalization variables.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_COLLATE</i></dt>

<dd><br>
Determine the locale for the behavior of ranges, equivalence classes, and multi-character collating elements used in the extended
regular expression defined for the <b>yesexpr</b> locale keyword in the <i>LC_MESSAGES</i> category.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_CTYPE</i></dt>

<dd>Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input files), the behavior of character classes used in the extended regular
expression defined for the <b>yesexpr</b> locale keyword in the <i>LC_MESSAGES</i> category.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_MESSAGES</i></dt>

<dd>Determine the locale for the processing of affirmative responses that should be used to affect the format and contents of
diagnostic messages written to standard error.</dd>

<dt><i>NLSPATH</i></dt>

<dd><sup>[<a href="javascript:open_code('XSI')">XSI</a>]</sup> <img src="../images/opt-start.gif" alt="[Option Start]" border="0">
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of <i>LC_MESSAGES .</i> <img src="../images/opt-end.gif" alt=
"[Option End]" border="0"></dd>
</dl>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_09"></a>ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Default.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_10"></a>STDOUT</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Not used.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_11"></a>STDERR</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Prompts shall be written to the standard error under the conditions specified in the DESCRIPTION section. The prompts shall
contain the destination pathname, but their format is otherwise unspecified. Otherwise, the standard error shall be used only for
diagnostic messages.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_12"></a>OUTPUT FILES</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The output files may be of any file type.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_13"></a>EXTENDED DESCRIPTION</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_14"></a>EXIT STATUS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The following exit values shall be returned:</p>

<dl compact>
<dt>&nbsp;0</dt>

<dd>All input files were moved successfully.</dd>

<dt>&gt;0</dt>

<dd>An error occurred.</dd>
</dl>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_15"></a>CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>If the copying or removal of <i>source_file</i> is prematurely terminated by a signal or error, <i>mv</i> may leave a partial
copy of <i>source_file</i> at the source or destination. The <i>mv</i> utility shall not modify both <i>source_file</i> and the
destination path simultaneously; termination at any point shall leave either <i>source_file</i> or the destination path
complete.</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>
<div class="box"><em>The following sections are informative.</em></div>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_16"></a>APPLICATION USAGE</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Some implementations mark for update the <i>st_ctime</i> field of renamed files and some do not. Applications which make use of
the <i>st_ctime</i> field may behave differently with respect to renamed files unless they are designed to allow for either
behavior.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_17"></a>EXAMPLES</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>If the current directory contains only files <b>a</b> (of any type defined by the System Interfaces volume of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001), <b>b</b> (also of any type), and a directory <b>c</b>:</p>

<pre>
<tt>mv a b c
mv c d
</tt>
</pre>

<p>results with the original files <b>a</b> and <b>b</b> residing in the directory <b>d</b> in the current directory.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_18"></a>RATIONALE</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Early proposals diverged from the SVID and BSD historical practice in that they required that when the destination path exists,
the <b>-f</b> option is not specified, and input is not a terminal, <i>mv</i> fails. This was done for compatibility with <a href=
"../utilities/cp.html"><i>cp</i></a>. The current text returns to historical practice. It should be noted that this is consistent
with the <a href="../functions/rename.html"><i>rename</i>()</a> function defined in the System Interfaces volume of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, which does not require write permission on the target.</p>

<p>For absolute clarity, paragraph (1), describing the behavior of <i>mv</i> when prompting for confirmation, should be interpreted
in the following manner:</p>

<pre>
<tt>if (exists AND (NOT f_option) AND
    ((not_writable AND input_is_terminal) OR i_option))
</tt>
</pre>

<p>The <b>-i</b> option exists on BSD systems, giving applications and users a way to avoid accidentally unlinking files when
moving others. When the standard input is not a terminal, the 4.3 BSD <i>mv</i> deletes all existing destination paths without
prompting, even when <b>-i</b> is specified; this is inconsistent with the behavior of the 4.3 BSD <a href=
"../utilities/cp.html"><i>cp</i></a> utility, which always generates an error when the file is unwritable and the standard input is
not a terminal. The standard developers decided that use of <b>-i</b> is a request for interaction, so when the destination path
exists, the utility takes instructions from whatever responds to standard input.</p>

<p>The <a href="../functions/rename.html"><i>rename</i>()</a> function is able to move directories within the same file system.
Some historical versions of <i>mv</i> have been able to move directories, but not to a different file system. The standard
developers considered that this was an annoying inconsistency, so this volume of IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001 requires
directories to be able to be moved even across file systems. There is no <b>-R</b> option to confirm that moving a directory is
actually intended, since such an option was not required for moving directories in historical practice. Requiring the application
to specify it sometimes, depending on the destination, seemed just as inconsistent. The semantics of the <a href=
"../functions/rename.html"><i>rename</i>()</a> function were preserved as much as possible. For example, <i>mv</i> is not permitted
to &quot;rename&quot; files to or from directories, even though they might be empty and removable.</p>

<p>Historic implementations of <i>mv</i> did not exit with a non-zero exit status if they were unable to duplicate any file
characteristics when moving a file across file systems, nor did they write a diagnostic message for the user. The former behavior
has been preserved to prevent scripts from breaking; a diagnostic message is now required, however, so that users are alerted that
the file characteristics have changed.</p>

<p>The exact format of the interactive prompts is unspecified. Only the general nature of the contents of prompts are specified
because implementations may desire more descriptive prompts than those used on historical implementations. Therefore, an
application not using the <b>-f</b> option or using the <b>-i</b> option relies on the system to provide the most suitable dialog
directly with the user, based on the behavior specified.</p>

<p>When <i>mv</i> is dealing with a single file system and <i>source_file</i> is a symbolic link, the link itself is moved as a
consequence of the dependence on the <a href="../functions/rename.html"><i>rename</i>()</a> functionality, per the DESCRIPTION.
Across file systems, this has to be made explicit.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_19"></a>FUTURE DIRECTIONS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_20"></a>SEE ALSO</h4>

<blockquote>
<p><a href="cp.html"><i>cp</i></a> , <a href="ln.html"><i>ln</i></a> , the System Interfaces volume of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, <a href="../functions/rename.html"><i>rename</i>()</a></p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_21"></a>CHANGE HISTORY</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>First released in Issue 2.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_90_22"></a>Issue 6</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The <i>mv</i> utility is changed to describe processing of symbolic links as specified in the IEEE&nbsp;P1003.2b draft
standard.</p>

<p>The APPLICATION USAGE section is added.</p>
</blockquote>

<div class="box"><em>End of informative text.</em></div>

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