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MV(1)                       NetBSD Reference Manual                      MV(1)


NAME

     mv - move files


SYNOPSIS

     mv [-fi] source target
     mv [-fi] source ... directory


DESCRIPTION

     In its first form, the mv utility renames the file named by the source
     operand to the destination path named by the target operand.  This form
     is assumed when the last operand does not name an already existing direc-
     tory.

     In its second form, mv moves each file named by a source operand to a
     destination file in the existing directory named by the directory
     operand.  The destination path for each operand is the pathname produced
     by the concatenation of the last operand, a slash, and the final pathname
     component of the named file.

     The following options are available:

     -f    Do not prompt for confirmation before overwriting the destination
           path.

     -i    Causes mv to write a prompt to standard error before moving a file
           that would overwrite an existing file.  If the response from the
           standard input begins with the character ``y'', the move is at-
           tempted.
     The last of any -f or -i options is the one which affects mv's behavior.

     It is an error for either the source operand or the destination path to
     specify a directory unless both do.

     If the destination path does not have a mode which permits writing, mv
     prompts the user for confirmation as specified for the -i option.

     As the rename(2) call does not work across file systems, mv uses cp(1)
     and rm(1) to accomplish the move.  The effect is equivalent to:

           rm -f destination_path && \
           cp -PRp source_file destination && \
           rm -rf source_file

     The mv utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.


SEE ALSO

     cp(1),  symlink(7)


STANDARDS

     The mv utility is expected to be IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') compatible.

4.4BSD                           May 31, 1993                                1