4.3BSD-Reno/share/man/cat1/find.0
FIND(1) UNIX Reference Manual FIND(1)
NNAAMMEE
ffiinndd - walk a file hierarchy
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ffiinndd [--ddssxx] [_p_a_t_h] _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
ffiinndd [--ddssxx] [--ff _p_a_t_h] _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
FFiinndd recursively descends the directory tree for each _p_a_t_h listed,
evaluating an _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n (composed of the ``primaries'' and ``operands''
listed below) in terms of each file in the tree.
The options are as follows:
--dd The --dd option causes find to perform a depth-first traversal, i.e.
directories are visited in post-order and all entries in a directo-
ry will be acted on before the directory itself. By default, ffiinndd
visits directories in pre-order, i.e. before their contents. Note,
the default is _n_o_t a breadth-first traversal.
--ff The --ff option specifies a file hierarchy for ffiinndd to traverse. If
no --ff option is specified, the first operand after the options is
expected to be the file hierarchy to be traversed.
--ss The --ss option causes the file information and file type (see
stat(2)), returned for each symbolic link to be those of the file
referenced by the link, not the link itself. If the referenced
file does not exist, the file information and type will be for the
link itself.
--xx The --xx option prevents ffiinndd from descending into directories that
have a device number different than that of the file from which the
descent began.
PPRRIIMMAARRIIEESS
aattiimmee _n
True if the difference between the file last access time and the
time ffiinndd was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period,
is _n 24-hour periods.
ccttiimmee _n
True if the difference between the time of last change of file
status information and the time ffiinndd was started, rounded up to the
next full 24-hour period, is _n 24-hour periods.
eexxeecc _u_t_i_l_i_t_y [argument ...];
True if the program named _u_t_i_l_i_t_y returns a zero value as its exit
status. Optional arguments may be passed to the utility. The ex-
pression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If the string
``{}'' appears anywhere in the utility name or the arguments it is
replaced by the pathname of the current file. Utility will be exe-
cuted in the directory from which ffiinndd was executed.
ffssttyyppee _t_y_p_e
True if the file is contained in a file system of type _t_y_p_e.
Currently supported types are ``local'', ``mfs'', ``nfs'', ``pc''
and ``ufs''. The type ``local'' is not a specific file system
type, but matches any file system physically mounted on the system
where the ffiinndd is being executed.
ggrroouupp _g_n_a_m_e
True if the file belongs to the group _g_n_a_m_e. If _g_n_a_m_e is numeric
and there is no such group name, then _g_n_a_m_e is treated as a group
id.
iinnuumm _n
True if the file has inode number _n.
lliinnkkss _n
True if the file has _n links.
llss This primary always evaluates to true. The following information
for the current file is written to standard output: its inode
number, size in 512-byte blocks, file permissions, number of hard
links, owner, group, size in bytes, last modification time, and
pathname. If the file is a block or character special file, the
major and minor numbers will be displayed instead of the size in
bytes. If the file is a symbolic link, the pathname of the
linked-to file will be displayed preceded by ``->''. The format is
identical to that produced by ``ls -dgils''.
mmttiimmee _n
True if the difference between the file last modification time and
the time ffiinndd was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour
period, is _n 24-hour periods.
ookk _u_t_i_l_i_t_y [argument ...];
The ookk primary is identical to the eexxeecc primary with the exception
that ffiinndd requests user affirmation for the execution of the utili-
ty by printing a message to the terminal and reading a response.
If the response is other than ``y'' the command is not executed and
the value of the _o_k expression is false.
nnaammee _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches
_p_a_t_t_e_r_n. Special shell pattern matching characters (``['', ``]'',
``*'', and ``?'') may be used as part of _p_a_t_t_e_r_n. These characters
may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a backslash
(``\'').
nneewweerr _f_i_l_e
True if the current file has a more recent last modification time
than _f_i_l_e.
nnoouusseerr
True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
nnooggrroouupp
True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
ppeerrmm [--]_m_o_d_e
The _m_o_d_e may be either symbolic (see chmod(1)) or an octal number.
If the mode is symbolic, a starting value of zero is assumed and
the mode sets or clears permissions without regard to the process'
file mode creation mask. If the mode is octal, only bits 07777 of
the file's mode bits participate in the comparison. If the mode is
preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates to true if at
least all of the bits in the mode are set in the file's mode bits.
If the mode is not preceded by a dash, this primary evaluates to
true if the bits in the mode exactly match the file's mode bits.
Note, the first character of a symbolic mode may not be a dash
(``-'').
pprriinntt
This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of
the current file to standard output. The expression is appended to
the user specified expression if neither eexxeecc, llss, or ookk is speci-
fied.
pprruunnee
This primary always evaluates to true. It causes ffiinndd to not des-
cend into the current file.
ssiizzee _n[cc]
True if the file's size, rounded up, in 512-byte blocks is _n. If _n
is followed by a ``c'', then the primary is true if the file's size
is _n bytes.
ttyyppee _t
True if the file is of the specified type. Possible file types are
as follows:
bb block special
cc character special
dd directory
ff regular file
ll symbolic link
pp FIFO
ss socket
uusseerr _u_n_a_m_e
True if the file belongs to the user _u_n_a_m_e. If _u_n_a_m_e is numeric
and there is no such user name, then _u_n_a_m_e is treated as a user id.
All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be pre-
ceded by a plus sign (``+'') or a minus sign (``-''). A preceding plus
sign means ``more than _n ' ', a preceding minus sign means ``less than _n
' ' and neither means ``exactly _n ' '.
OOPPEERRAATTOORRSS
The primaries may be combined using the following operators. The opera-
tors are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
((_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n) This evaluates to true if the parenthesized
expression evaluates to true.
!! _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n This is the unary NOT operator. It evaluates to true
if the expression is false.
_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n aanndd _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
The aanndd operator is the logical AND operator. As it
is implied by the juxtaposition of two expressions it
does not have to be specified. The expression evalu-
ates to true if both expressions are true. The
second expression is not evaluated if the first ex-
pression is false.
_e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n oorr _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
The oorr operator is the logical OR operator. The ex-
pression evaluates to true if either the first or the
second expression is true. The second expression is
not evaluated if the first expression is true.
All operands and primaries must be separate arguments to ffiinndd. Primaries
which themselves take arguments expect each argument to be a separate ar-
gument to ffiinndd.
EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS
The following examples are shown as given to the shell:
find / \! name *.c print
Print out a list of all the files whose names do not end in
``.c''.
find / newer ttt user wnj print
Print out a list of all the files owned by user ``wnj'' that are
newer than the file ``ttt''.
find / \! \( newer ttt user wnj
Print out a list of all the files which are not both newer than
``ttt'' and owned by ``wnj''.
find / \( newer ttt or user wnj
Print out a list of all the files that are either owned by
``wnj'' or that are newer than ``ttt''.
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
chmod(1), sh(1), test(1), stat(2), umask(2), getpwent(3), getgrent(3),
strmode(3)
SSTTAANNDDAARRDDSS
The ffiinndd utility syntax is a replacement for the syntax specified by the
POSIX 1003.2 standard. The standard syntax is also supported; see the
COMPATIBILITY section below for details.
The --ss option as well as the primaries iinnuumm and llss are extensions to the
POSIX standard.
CCOOMMPPAATTIIBBIILLIITTYY
The traditional, and standardized, syntax for ffiinndd is as follows. All of
the primaries are preceded by a dash (``-''), i.e. the primary ``group''
is specified as ``-group''. The --dd, --ss, and --xx options are implemented
using the primaries ``-depth'', ``-follow'', and ``-xdev''. These pri-
maries always evaluate to true. The operator ``or'' is implemented as
``-o'', and the operator ``and'' is implemented as ``-a''. The set of
file trees to be traversed are specified as the first operands to ffiinndd.
The first operand beginning with a dash (``-''), exclamation point
(``!'') or left parenthesis (``('') is assumed to be the beginning of the
expression and the end of the files to be traversed.
The ffiinndd syntax was changed for two reasons. The first is that the
``-depth'', ``-follow'' and ``-xdev'' primaries are really global vari-
ables that take effect before the traversal begins. This causes some le-
gal expressions to have unexpected results. An example is the expression
``-print -o -depth''. As -print always evaluates to true, the standard
order of evaluation implies that -depth would never be evaluated. This
is not the case.
The second reason is that traversing file trees with names beginning with
a dash, exclamation point or left parenthesis was impossible.
BBUUGGSS
The special characters used by ffiinndd are also special characters to many
shell programs. In particular, the characters ``*'', ``['', ``]'',
``?'', ``('', ``)'', ``!'', ``\'' and ``;'' may have to be escaped from
the shell.