Question

The symbol for Execute + Write permission types is ________.

• A. -x
• B. rw-
• C. -wx
• D. r-w

Hint:

The three permission slots are always listed in the exact order of rwx (Read, Write, Execute). If a permission is missing, it is represented by a hyphen. Thus, -wx denotes write and execute are granted, while read is denied.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding Linux Symbolic Permission Representation:
In Linux terminal file listings (such as running the ls -l command), file permissions are displayed as a 9-character string. This string is divided into three distinct groups of three characters representing:

• User (Owner) permissions
• Group permissions
• Other (World) permissions

Step 2: Decoding the Permission Characters:
Each three-character slot follows a strict positional order: [Read][Write][Execute].

• r: Read permission (value $4$ in octal).
• w: Write permission (value $2$ in octal).
• x: Execute permission (value $1$ in octal).
• -: Indicates that the corresponding permission is denied (value $0$).

Step 3: Evaluating the requested permission combination (Execute + Write):
If a file has Execute and Write permissions but lacks Read permission:

• First slot (Read): Denied, represented by a hyphen ‘-‘.
• Second slot (Write): Granted, represented by ‘w‘.
• Third slot (Execute): Granted, represented by ‘x‘.

This results in the symbolic representation ‘-wx‘, which corresponds perfectly to option (C).