4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat1/find.1
FIND(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual FIND(1)
NAME
find - find files
SYNOPSIS
find pathname-list expression
find pattern
DESCRIPTION
In the first form above, _f_i_n_d recursively descends the
directory hierarchy for each pathname in the _p_a_t_h_n_a_m_e-_l_i_s_t
(i.e., one or more pathnames) seeking files that match a
boolean _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n written in the primaries given below. In
the descriptions, the argument _n is used as a decimal
integer where +_n means more than _n, -_n means less than _n and
_n means exactly _n.
The second form rapidly searches a database for all path-
names which match _p_a_t_t_e_r_n. Usually the database is recom-
puted weekly and contains the pathnames of all files which
are publicly accessible. If escaped, normal shell "glob-
bing" characters (`*', `?', `[', and ']') may be used in
_p_a_t_t_e_r_n, but the matching differs in that no characters
(_e._g. `/') have to be matched explicitly. As a special
case, a simple _p_a_t_t_e_r_n containing no globbing characters is
matched as though it were *_p_a_t_t_e_r_n*; if any globbing charac-
ter appears there are no implicit globbing characters.
-name filename
True if the _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e argument matches the current
file name. Normal shell argument syntax may be
used if escaped (watch out for `[', `?' and `*').
-perm onum
True if the file permission flags exactly match
the octal number _o_n_u_m (see _c_h_m_o_d(1)). If _o_n_u_m is
prefixed by a minus sign, more flag bits (017777,
see _s_t_a_t(2)) become significant and the flags are
compared: (_f_l_a_g_s&_o_n_u_m)==_o_n_u_m.
-type c True if the type of the file is _c, where _c is b,
c, d, f, l or s for block special file, character
special file, directory, plain file, symbolic
link, or socket.
-links n True if the file has _n links.
-user uname
True if the file belongs to the user _u_n_a_m_e (login
name or numeric user ID).
-nouser True if the file belongs to a user _n_o_t in the
/etc/passwd database.
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FIND(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual FIND(1)
-group gname
True if the file belongs to group _g_n_a_m_e (group
name or numeric group ID).
-nogroup True if the file belongs to a group _n_o_t in the
/etc/group database.
-size n True if the file is _n blocks long (512 bytes per
block).
-inum n True if the file has inode number _n.
-atime n True if the file has been accessed in _n days.
-mtime n True if the file has been modified in _n days.
-exec command
True if the executed command returns a zero value
as exit status. The end of the command must be
punctuated by an escaped semicolon. A command
argument `{}' is replaced by the current pathname.
-ok command
Like -exec except that the generated command is
written on the standard output, then the standard
input is read and the command executed only upon
response y.
-print Always true; causes the current pathname to be
printed.
-ls Always true; causes current pathname to be printed
together with its associated statistics. These
include (respectively) inode number, size in kilo-
bytes (1024 bytes), protection mode, number of
hard links, user, group, size in bytes, and modif-
ication time. If the file is a special file the
size field will instead contain the major and
minor device numbers. If the file is a symbolic
link the pathname of the linked-to file is printed
preceded by ``->''. The format is identical to
that of ``ls -gilds'' (note however that format-
ting is done internally, without executing the ls
program).
-newer file
True if the current file has been modified more
recently than the argument _f_i_l_e.
-cpio file
Write the current file on the argument _f_i_l_e in
_c_p_i_o format.
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FIND(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual FIND(1)
-xdev Always true; causes find _n_o_t to traverse down into
a file system different from the one on which
current _a_r_g_u_m_e_n_t pathname resides.
The primaries may be combined using the following operators
(in order of decreasing precedence):
1) A parenthesized group of primaries and operators
(parentheses are special to the Shell and must be
escaped).
2) The negation of a primary (`!' is the unary _n_o_t opera-
tor).
3) Concatenation of primaries (the _a_n_d operation is implied
by the juxtaposition of two primaries).
4) Alternation of primaries (`-o' is the _o_r operator).
EXAMPLES
To find all accessible files whose pathname contains `find':
find find
To typeset all variants of manual pages for `ls':
vtroff -man `find '*man*/ls.?'`
To remove all files named `a.out' or `*.o' that have not
been accessed for a week:
find / \( -name a.out -o -name '*.o' \) -atime +7 -exec rm
{} \;
FILES
/etc/passwd
/etc/group
/usr/lib/find/find.codes coded pathnames database
SEE ALSO
sh(1), test(1), fs(5)
Relevant paper in February, 1983 issue of ;_l_o_g_i_n:.
BUGS
The first form's syntax is painful, and the second form's
exact semantics is confusing and can vary from site to site.
More than one `-newer' option does not work properly.
Printed 12/27/86 May 11, 1986 3