4.4BSD/usr/share/man/cat1/find.0
FIND(1) BSD Reference Manual FIND(1)
NNAAMMEE
ffiinndd - walk a file hierarchy
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ffiinndd [--HHddhhXXxx] [--ff _f_i_l_e] [_f_i_l_e _._._.] _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
FFiinndd recursively descends the directory tree for each _f_i_l_e listed, evalu-
ating an _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n (composed of the ``primaries'' and ``operands'' list-
ed below) in terms of each file in the tree.
The options are as follows:
--HH The --HH option causes the file information and file type (see
stat(2)), returned for each symbolic link encountered on the
command line 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. File informa-
tion of all symbolic links not on the command line is that of the
link itself.
--dd The --dd option causes ffiinndd to perform a depth-first traversal,
i.e. directories are visited in post-order and all entries in a
directory will be acted on before the directory itself. By de-
fault, 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.
File hierarchies may also be specified as the operands immediate-
ly following the options.
--hh The --hh 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 refer-
enced file does not exist, the file information and type will be
for the link itself.
--XX The --XX option is a modification to permit ffiinndd to be safely used
in conjunction with xargs(1). If a file name contains any of the
delimiting characters used by xargs, a diagnostic message is
displayed on standard error, and the file is skipped. The delim-
iting characters include single (`` ' '') and double (`` " '')
quotes, backslash (``\''), space, tab and newline characters.
--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 peri-
od, 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 ex-
it status. Optional arguments may be passed to the utility. The
expression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If the
string ``{}'' appears anywhere in the utility name or the argu-
ments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file.
_U_t_i_l_i_t_y will be executed from 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. Cur-
rently supported types are ``local'', ``mfs'', ``nfs'', ``pc'',
``rdonly'' and ``ufs''. The types ``local'' and ``rdonly'' are
not specific file system types. The former matches any file sys-
tem physically mounted on the system where the ffiinndd is being exe-
cuted and the latter matches any file system which is mounted
read-only.
--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 excep-
tion that ffiinndd requests user affirmation for the execution of the
utility by printing a message to the terminal and reading a re-
sponse. 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 charac-
ters 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.
--ppaatthh _p_a_t_t_e_r_n
True if 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 (``\'').
Slashes (``/'') are treated as normal characters and do not have
to be matched explicitly.
--ppeerrmm [--_m_o_d_e]
The _m_o_d_e may be either symbolic (see chmod(1)) or an octal num-
ber. If the mode is symbolic, a starting value of zero is as-
sumed and the mode sets or clears permissions without regard to
the process' file mode creation mask. If the mode is octal, only
bits 07777 (S_ISUID | S_ISGID | S_ISTXT | S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG |
S_IRWXO) 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
specified.
--pprruunnee This primary always evaluates to true. It causes ffiinndd to not de-
scend into the current file. Note, the --pprruunnee primary has no ef-
fect if the --dd option was specified.
--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 evaluates to true if
both expressions are true. The second expression is not
evaluated if the first expression 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 expres-
sion 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
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
Print out a list of all the files that are either owned by ``wnj''
or that are newer than ``ttt''.
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
chmod(1), locate(1), stat(2), fts(3), getpwent(3), getgrent(3),
strmode(3), symlink(7)
SSTTAANNDDAARRDDSS
The ffiinndd utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the IEEE
Std1003.2 (``POSIX'') standard.
The --ss and --XX options and the --iinnuumm and --llss primaries are extensions to
IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX'').
Historically, the --dd, --ss and --xx options were implemented using the pri-
maries ``-depth'', ``-follow'', and ``-xdev''. These primaries always
evaluated to true. As they were really global variables that took effect
before the traversal began, some legal expressions could 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 operator ``-or'' was implemented as ``-o'', and the operator ``-and''
was implemented as ``-a''.
Historic implementations of the eexxeecc and ookk primaries did not replace the
string ``{}'' in the utility name or the utility arguments if it had pre-
ceding or following non-whitespace characters. This version replaces it
no matter where in the utility name or arguments it appears.
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.
As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file names
and the _e_x_p_r_e_s_s_i_o_n, it is difficult to specify files named ``-xdev'' or
``!''. These problems are handled by the --ff option and the getopt(3)
``--'' construct.
4.4BSD June 6, 1993 5