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ls: Add a --header option - #344

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@AJRepo AJRepo commented Sep 6, 2026 •
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Feature Request:

Add a new option to display column titles when using the -l flag

This is following up on the comment at https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/coreutils/2023-03/msg00086.html by Pádraig that adding headers to ls bears merit.

Headers:

  • Inode: (enabled by -i)
  • Blocks: (enabled by -s)
  • Mode: (POSIX / coreutils convention for file mode & permissions)
  • Links: (hard link count)
  • Owner: (suppressed by -g)
  • Group: (suppressed by -G / -o)
  • Author: (enabled by --author)
  • Context: (enabled by -Z)
  • Size: (byte size or human-readable size or device numbers)
  • Date: (timestamp column; accommodates default, ISO, and full-iso styles)
  • Name: (file name)

Alignment:

  • Columns that are numbers are right aligned
  • Columns that are text are left aligned.

Tests:

./src/ls -l --header
./src/ls -il --header
./src/ls -sl --header
./src/ls -isl --header
./src/ls -g --header
./src/ls -o --header
./src/ls -og --header
./src/ls -n --header
./src/ls -l --author --header
./src/ls -l --full-time --header
./src/ls -l -D --header
./src/ls -l --header file1 file2
./src/ls -lR --header directory/

Test suite tests: tests/ls/header.sh:

  • Test suite verifying: alignment and presence with options:
    • ls -l --header: with columns (Mode Links Owner Group Size Date Name).
    • ls -il --header: Add Inode column
    • ls -sl --header: Add Blocks column
    • ls -isl --header: Add both Inode and Blocks.
    • ls -g --header / ls -o --header / ls -og --header: omission of Owner/Group.
    • ls -n --header: numeric UID/GID column header
    • ls -l --header --author: Add author column.
    • ls -l --header --full-time: full timestamp
    • ls -l --header file1 file2: without total line.
    • ls -lR --header: recursive directory headers.
    • ls --header without -l: do not display without -l flag.

Examples:

$ ./src/ls -l --header | head 
total 12452
Mode       Links Owner Group    Size Date         Name
-rw-r--r--     1 afan  afan    93787 Sep  6 07:55 ABOUT-NLS
-rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    64533 Sep  6 07:56 aclocal.m4
-rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     3839 Sep  6 07:51 AUTHORS
drwxr-xr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 07:56 autom4te.cache
-rwxrwxr-x     1 afan  afan    57522 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap
-rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     8806 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap.conf
drwxrwxr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 08:37 build-aux
-rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    41184 Sep  6 07:51 cfg.mk

$ ./src/ls -il --header | head 
total 12452
   Inode Mode       Links Owner Group    Size Date         Name
26636174 -rw-r--r--     1 afan  afan    93787 Sep  6 07:55 ABOUT-NLS
26638483 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    64533 Sep  6 07:56 aclocal.m4
26621778 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     3839 Sep  6 07:51 AUTHORS
26621764 drwxr-xr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 07:56 autom4te.cache
26621795 -rwxrwxr-x     1 afan  afan    57522 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap
26621796 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     8806 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap.conf
26621797 drwxrwxr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 08:37 build-aux
26621802 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    41184 Sep  6 07:51 cfg.mk

 ./src/ls -isl --header | head 
total 12452
   Inode Blocks Mode       Links Owner Group    Size Date         Name
26636174     92 -rw-r--r--     1 afan  afan    93787 Sep  6 07:55 ABOUT-NLS
26638483     64 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    64533 Sep  6 07:56 aclocal.m4
26621778      4 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     3839 Sep  6 07:51 AUTHORS
26621764      4 drwxr-xr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 07:56 autom4te.cache
26621795     60 -rwxrwxr-x     1 afan  afan    57522 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap
26621796     12 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan     8806 Sep  6 07:51 bootstrap.conf
26621797      4 drwxrwxr-x     2 afan  afan     4096 Sep  6 08:37 build-aux
26621802     44 -rw-rw-r--     1 afan  afan    41184 Sep  6 07:51 cfg.mk

I understand that the preferred process for sending changes
is to email [email protected] or [email protected] respectively.
However, as a first attempt at submitting a patch to such an important repo, I'd prefer to see if this
is acceptable first.

Copyright Assignment

I assign copyright of this to the FSF. I have submitted the email to [email protected]

@AJRepo
ls: Add a --header option
2d20866 
Add a new option to display column titles when using the -l flag

Signed-off-by: A Ottenheimer <[email protected]>
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