find -- walk a file hierarchy
find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-f pathname] [pathname ...] expression
The find utility recursively descends the directory tree for each
pathname listed, evaluating an expression (composed of the ``primaries''
and ``operands'' listed below) in terms of each file in the tree.
The options are as follows:
-E Interpret regular expressions followed by -regex and -iregex
options as extended (modern) regular expressions rather than
basic regular expressions (BRE's). The re_format(7) manual page
fully describes both formats.
-H Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned
for each symbolic link specified 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 information of all symbolic
links not on the command line is that of the link itself.
-L Cause 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.
-P Cause the file information and file type (see stat(2)) returned
for each symbolic link to be those of the link itself. This is
the default.
-X Permit find to be safely used in conjunction with xargs(1). If a
file name contains any of the delimiting characters used by
xargs(1), a diagnostic message is displayed on standard error,
and the file is skipped. The delimiting characters include single
(`` ' '') and double (`` " '') quotes, backslash (``\''),
space, tab and newline characters.
However, you may wish to consider the -print0 primary in conjunction
with ``xargs -0'' as an effective alternative.
-d Cause find 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 default, find visits
directories in pre-order, i.e., before their contents. Note, the
default is not a breadth-first traversal.
-f Specify a file hierarchy for find to traverse. File hierarchies
may also be specified as the operands immediately following the
options.
-s Cause find to traverse the file hierarchies in lexicographical
order, i.e., alphabetical order within each directory. Note:
`find -s' and `find | sort' may give different results.
-x Prevent find from descending into directories that have a device
number different than that of the file from which the descent
began.
-amin n
True if the difference between the file last access time and the
time find was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is n
minutes.
-anewer file
Same as -neweram.
-atime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last access time and the time find
was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period, is n
24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last access time and the time find
was started is exactly n units. Possible time units are as follows:
s second
m minute (60 seconds)
h hour (60 minutes)
d day (24 hours)
w week (7 days)
Any number of units may be combined in one -atime argument, for
example, ``-atime -1h30m''. Units are probably only useful when
used in conjunction with the + or - modifier.
-cmin n
True if the difference between the time of last change of file
status information and the time find was started, rounded up to
the next full minute, is n minutes.
-cnewer file
Same as -newercm.
-ctime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of last change of file status information
and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full
24-hour period, is n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the time of last change of file status information
and the time find was started is exactly n units. Please
refer to the -atime primary description for information on supported
time units.
-delete
Delete found files and/or directories. Always returns true.
This executes from the current working directory as find recurses
down the tree. It will not attempt to delete a filename with a
``/'' character in its pathname relative to ``.'' for security
reasons. Depth-first traversal processing is implied by this
option.
-depth Always true; same as the -d option. -depth can be useful when
find is used with cpio(1) to process files that are contained in
directories with unusual permissions. It ensures that you have
write permission while you are placing files in a directory, then
sets the directory's permissions as the last thing.
-empty True if the current file or directory is empty.
-exec utility [argument ...] ;
True if the program named utility returns a zero value as its
exit status. Optional arguments may be passed to the utility.
The expression must be terminated by a semicolon (``;''). If you
invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if
the shell would otherwise treat it as a control operator. 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 executed from the directory from which find was
executed. Utility and arguments are not subject to the further
expansion of shell patterns and constructs.
-exec utility [argument ...] {} +
Same as -exec, except that ``{}'' is replaced with as many pathnames
as possible for each invocation of utility. This behaviour
is similar to that of xargs(1).
-execdir utility [argument ...] ;
The -execdir primary is identical to the -exec primary with the
exception that utility will be executed from the directory that
holds the current file. The filename substituted for the string
``{}'' is not qualified.
-flags [-|+]flags,notflags
The flags are specified using symbolic names (see chflags(1)).
Those with the "no" prefix (except "nodump") are said to be
notflags. Flags in flags are checked to be set, and flags in
notflags are checked to be not set. Note that this is different
from -perm, which only allows the user to specify mode bits that
are set.
If flags are preceded by a dash (``-''), this primary evaluates
to true if at least all of the bits in flags and none of the bits
in notflags are set in the file's flags bits. If flags are preceded
by a plus (``+''), this primary evaluates to true if any of
the bits in flags is set in the file's flags bits, or any of the
bits in notflags is not set in the file's flags bits. Otherwise,
this primary evaluates to true if the bits in flags exactly match
the file's flags bits, and none of the flags bits match those of
notflags.
-fstype type
True if the file is contained in a file system of type type. The
sysctl(8) command can be used to find out the types of file systems
that are available on the system:
sysctl vfs
In addition, there are two pseudo-types, ``local'' and
``rdonly''. The former matches any file system physically
mounted on the system where the find is being executed and the
latter matches any file system which is mounted read-only.
-group gname
True if the file belongs to the group gname. If gname is numeric
and there is no such group name, then gname is treated as a group
ID.
-iname pattern
Like -name, but the match is case insensitive.
-inum n
True if the file has inode number n.
-ipath pattern
Like -path, but the match is case insensitive.
-iregex pattern
Like -regex, but the match is case insensitive.
-links n
True if the file has n links.
-ls 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.
-maxdepth n
True if the depth of the current file into the tree is less than
or equal to n.
-mindepth n
True if the depth of the current file into the tree is greater
than or equal to n.
-mmin n
True if the difference between the file last modification time
and the time find was started, rounded up to the next full
minute, is n minutes.
-mnewer file
Same as -newer.
-mtime n[smhdw]
If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last modification time and the time
find was started, rounded up to the next full 24-hour period, is
n 24-hour periods.
If units are specified, this primary evaluates to true if the
difference between the file last modification time and the time
find was started is exactly n units. Please refer to the -atime
primary description for information on supported time units.
-name pattern
True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches
pattern. Special shell pattern matching characters (``['',
``]'', ``*'', and ``?'') may be used as part of pattern. These
characters may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a
backslash (``\'').
-newer file
True if the current file has a more recent last modification time
than file.
-newerXY file
True if the current file has a more recent last access time
(X=a), change time (X=c), or modification time (X=m) than the
last access time (Y=a), change time (Y=c), or modification time
(Y=m) of file. In addition, if Y=t, then file is instead interpreted
as a direct date specification of the form understood by
cvs(1). Note that -newermm is equivalent to -newer.
-nogroup
True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
-nouser
True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
-ok utility [argument ...] ;
The -ok primary is identical to the -exec primary with the exception
that find requests user affirmation for the execution of the
utility 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 -ok expression is false.
-okdir utility [argument ...] ;
The -okdir primary is identical to the -execdir primary with the
same exception as described for the -ok primary.
-path pattern
True if the pathname being examined matches pattern. Special
shell pattern matching characters (``['', ``]'', ``*'', and
``?'') may be used as part of pattern. 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.
-perm [-|+]mode
The mode 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 (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 preceded by a plus (``+''),
this primary evaluates to true if any of the bits in the mode are
set in the file's mode bits. Otherwise, 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 (``-'').
-print This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of
the current file to standard output. If none of -exec, -ls,
-print0, or -ok is specified, the given expression shall be
effectively replaced by ( given expression ) -print.
-print0
This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of
the current file to standard output, followed by an ASCII NUL
character (character code 0).
-prune This primary always evaluates to true. It causes find to not
descend into the current file. Note, the -prune primary has no
effect if the -d option was specified.
-regex pattern
True if the whole path of the file matches pattern using regular
expression. To match a file named ``./foo/xyzzy'', you can use
the regular expression ``.*/[xyz]*'' or ``.*/foo/.*'', but not
``xyzzy'' or ``/foo/''.
-size n[c]
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 (characters).
-type t
True if the file is of the specified type. Possible file types
are as follows:
b block special
c character special
d directory
f regular file
l symbolic link
p FIFO
s socket
-user uname
True if the file belongs to the user uname. If uname is numeric
and there is no such user name, then uname is treated as a user
ID.
All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be preceded
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''.
The primaries may be combined using the following operators. The operators
are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
( expression ) This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression
evaluates to true.
! expression
-false expression
-not expression
This is the unary NOT operator. It evaluates to true if
the expression is false.
expression -and expression
expression expression
The -and 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.
expression -or expression
The -or operator is the logical OR operator. The expression
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 find. Primaries
which themselves take arguments expect each argument to be a separate
argument to find.
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.
find . -newerct '1 minute ago' -print
Print out a list of all the files whose inode change time is more
recent than the current time minus one minute.
chflags(1), chmod(1), cvs(1), locate(1), whereis(1), which(1), xargs(1),
stat(2), fts(3), getgrent(3), getpwent(3), strmode(3), re_format(7),
symlink(7)
The find utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the IEEE
Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') standard.
All the single character options as well as the -iname, -inum, -iregex,
-print0, -delete, -ls, and -regex primaries are extensions to IEEE Std
1003.2 (``POSIX.2'').
Historically, the -d, -h and -x options were implemented using the primaries
-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 -exec and -ok primaries did not replace
the string ``{}'' in the utility name or the utility arguments if it had
preceding or following non-whitespace characters. This version replaces
it no matter where in the utility name or arguments it appears.
The -E option was implemented on the analogy of grep(1) and sed(1).
The special characters used by find 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 expression, it is difficult to specify files named -xdev or !.
These problems are handled by the -f option and the getopt(3) ``--'' construct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause
the file system tree traversal options to be changed.
A find command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
FreeBSD 5.2.1 May 3, 2001 FreeBSD 5.2.1 [ Back ] |
