5 Directory Access

Inherently, a directory is a file that stores information about files that are ``inside''. It has the same permissions as a regular file. However, there are some important differences.

• Read. If a directory is readable, the files contained in the directory are listable. However, this does not mean that the files can be read.
• Write. If a directory is writeable, its content can change. In other words, new files can be created, and existing files can be removed.
• Execute. If a directory is ``executable'', its content can be read.

Special care should be taken when setting the r and x permissions. r-- for a directory means the contained files can be listed, but there is no access to them. --x is usually not used, but it means files inside a directory can be accessed, but the directory cannot be listed.