Prototype Files and Directories

What are prototypes?

Prototypes are examples of files and directories as they appear in a new Andrew account. If you think something is wrong with your Mailbox, PrintDir, private, or public directories, or your preferences, .login, .logout, or .cshrc files, you can copy a prototype into your own account to replace the incorrect file or directory.

Using prototypes

The /afs/andrew/data/db/account directory contains all of the files used to create a new Andrew account. The files in this directory are:

• .login
• .logout
• .cshrc
• preferences
• bin
• private
• public

Because several of these files contain a period before the file name (often referred to as "dot" or "hidden" files), you will need to use the ls -a command to list all of the files in this directory. (This command lists both visible and hidden files.)

To copy a file from the /afs/andrew/data/db/account directory into your home directory,:

1. Type cp /afs/andrew/data/db/account/<filename> at the system prompt and press Return.
   <filename> is the name of the file you wish to copy.

To avoid overwriting something you may want to keep, it is a good idea to rename the file you want to replace before copying the new one. For example, if you want to copy the proto version of .login, you might change the name of your existing .login file to .login.old. That way, you will be able to retrieve information from your old file that you want to include in the new one. See the Andrew Files and Directories document to learn how to rename a file.

Where to Copy Prototypes

Be sure to copy prototypes into your home directory. They won't work if you copy them anywhere else.

Last Updated: 11/7/05