View source for BOSS-Linux/C2/File-Attributes/English

'''Title of script''': '''The Linux File Attributes'''

'''Author: Shahid Ali Farooqui'''

'''Keywords: File permissions, ownership of a file, group, inode, soft and hard links.'''

'''Prerequisite: Please create empty files named as example1, example2, example3, example4, '''

'''example5, and testchown. Please also create empty directories named as test_chown and '''

'''directory1 '''

Resources for the tutorial:[[File:Resources_for_file_attributes.zip]]
{| style="border-spacing:0;"
| style="border-top:0.035cm solid #000000;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| <center>'''Visual Cue'''</center>
| style="border:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| <center>'''Narration'''

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 1 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Welcome to this spoken tutorial on Linux File Attributes.
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The prerequisite for this tutorial is to create empty files named as example1, example2, example3, example4, example5, and testchown. Please create empty directories named as test_chown and directory1 also 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 2 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| A file attribute is metadata that describes or is associated with a computer file. File attribute is the characteristics that describe a file, such as owner, file type, access permissions, etc. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 3 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| chown command is used to change the ownership of the file or directory. This is an admin command, root user only can change the owner of a file or directory. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The syntax of chown command is '''<nowiki>chown space options space ownername space filename or directoryname </nowiki>'''
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| We may give following options with chown command. 

'''-R''' : To change the permission on files that are in the subdirectories of the directory that you are currently in. 

'''-c ''': Change the permission for each file. 

'''-f''' : Prevents chown from displaying error messages. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 4 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now we will look at some examples 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| So go to the terminal. We will move to the directory where we have created empty files and folders. For that cd space Desktop slash file_attr and press enter
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| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type the command 

$ ls space -l spacetestchown and press Enter.


-rw-r--r-- 1 shahid shahid 0 2010-12-14 16:28 testchown 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Here we can see the owner of the file 'testchown' is shahid
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To change the owner of the file, type the command 


$ sudo space chown space anusha space testchown 

press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Enter the sudo password and press Enter again. Press enter 
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| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type 


$ ls space -l space testchown 


and press Enter 


Here we can see the new owner of the file is anusha.
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now we will see how to change owner of the <span class="plainlinks">[http://www.proposable.com<span style="color:black;font-weight:normal; text-decoration:none!important; background:none!important; text-decoration:none;">proposal software</span>] directory 

Type the command 


$ ls -l 


press Enter 

Here we can see the owner of the directory 'test_chown' is shahid 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To change the owner of the directory, type the command 


$ sudo space chown space minus capital R space anusha space test_chown which is directory name 


and press Enter 

Enter the sudo password, if required and press Enter again. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| I will clear the screen by pressing Clt+L for our convenience. Now type 


$ ls space -l 


press Enter 

Here we can see the new owner of the directory is anusha. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 5 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| chmod command is used to change the access mode or permissions of one or more files. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Syntax of the chmod command is 


chmod space [options] space mode space filename 

We may give the following options with chmod command. 

-c : Print information about files that are changed. 

-f : Do not notify user of files that chmod cannot change. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 6
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| There are following types of access or permissions 

r : Read 

w : Write 

x : Execute 

s : Set user (or group) ID 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Alternatively, we may specify permissions by a three-digit octal number. The first digit stands for owner permission, the second stands for group permission, and the third stands for other's permission.
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Permissions are calculated by adding the following octal values: 

4 : Read 

2 : Write 

1 : Execute 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 7 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now we will look at some examples of chmod 

Move to terminal and enter the command to add execute-by-user permission to file example1 Before that i will again clear the screen by pressing Clt+l.
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now lets type 


$ chmod space u+x space example1 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type


$ ls space -l space example1 


press Enter to see the changes 

Here you can see to assign the read/write/execute permission by owner, read/execute permission by group, and execute-only permission by others to file example1 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type the command 


$ chmod space 751 space example1 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type 


$ ls space -l space example1 

and press Enter 

Here we can see that above command has assigned the read/write/execute permission by owner, read/execute permission by group, and execute-only permission by others to file example1. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 8 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To assign read-only permission to file example1 for everyone type the command 


$ chmod space <nowiki>=r space </nowiki>example1 


and press Enter 

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type the command 


$ ls space -l space example1 


press Enter 


Here we can see that the read only permission has been assigned to file example1 for everyone 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To change the permission recursively and assign the read and execute access for everyone and also write access for the owner of the directory directory1 type the command 


$ chmod space minus capital R space 755 space directory1 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type 


$ ls space -l 

press Enter to see the changes 

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display 

slide 9 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To give the user execute permission on file example2 

Type the command 


$ chmod space u+x space example2 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type the command 


$ ls space -l space example2 


and press Enter 

Here we can see that execute permission has been assigned to user on example2
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To add the write permissions to the group for file example3 

type the command 


$ chmod space g+w space example3 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| and now type 


$ ls space -l space example3 


press Enter 

Here we can see the write permission has been added to group 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To remove the write permissions for all type the command 


$ chmod space a-w space example3 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type 


$ ls space -l space example3 


press Enter 

Here we can see the write permission for all has been removed 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 10 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Chgrp 

chgrp command is used to change the group of one or more files to newgroup. Newgroup is either a group ID number or a group name located in /etc/group. Only the owner of a file or a privileged user may change the group. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The syntax for the chgrp command is


chgrp space [options] space newgroup space files 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Lets go to terminal. 

Now we will look at some examples of chgrp command.

type the command 

$ ls space -l space example4 


press Enter 

Here we can see the group permission is for user shahid 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To change the group permission , type the command 


$ sudo space chgrp space rohit space example4 


press Enter 


Enter the sudo password if required. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now type the command 


$ ls space -l space example4 


press Enter 


Here we can see that the group has changed from shahid to rohit. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 11 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The inode number is a unique integer assigned to the device. Inode stores basic information about a regular file or a directory. All the files are hard links to inodes. Whenever a program refers to a file by name, the system actually uses the filename to search for the corresponding inode. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| We can use ls space -i command to see the inode number of a file. 

type the command 


$ ls space -i space example5 


press Enter 


Number written before the file is the inode number of the file. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 12 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Inodes are associated with precisely one directory entry at a time. 

Hard links are to associate multiple directory entries with a single inode. 

ln is the command to make link 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The syntax of ln command to create the hard link is 


ln space {source} space {link} 


Where, source is an existing file and link is the file to create.
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 13 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now we will look at some examples of hard links 


Let me clear the screen again. Now type the command 

$ ln space example1 space exampleln 


press Enter 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To display the inode number of both the files, type the command 


$ ls space -i space example1 space exampleln 

press Enter 
Here we can see that inode number of both the files are same, file exampleln is the hard link for file example1 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 14 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Soft link (symbolic link) is a special type of file that contains a reference to another file or directory in the form of an absolute or relative path. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| The syntax of ln command to create soft links is 


ln space -s space {target-filename} space {symbolic-filename} 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 15 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now we will look at some examples of soft links 

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| To create the soft link, type the command 

$ ln space -s space example1 space examplesoft 

press Enter 

|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Switch to terminal 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| Now, to display the inode number and list of both the files, type the command 


$ ls space -li space example1 space examplesoft 


press Enter 


Here we can see that inode number of both the files are different and examplesoft is a softlink of example1. 
|-
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:none;padding:0.097cm;"| Display slide 16 
| style="border-top:none;border-bottom:0.035cm solid #000000;border-left:0.035cm solid #000000;border-right:0.035cm solid #000000;padding:0.097cm;"| So in this tutorial we have learnt about the Linux Files Attributes like changing permission, ownership and group of a file. 

We also learnt about the inode, soft and hard links of a file. This brings me to the end of this tutorial. Spoken Tutorials are a part of the Talk to a Teacher project, supported by the National Mission on Education through ICT. 

More information on the same is available at the following link http://spoken-tutorial.org /NMEICT-Intro . This is Anusha Kadambala and Shahid from IIT Bombay signing off . Thanks for joining. 

|}