NAME
find
- walk a file hierarchy
SYNOPSIS
find
[-H | -L | -P]
[-dEhsXx]
file
[file ...]
[expression]
find
[-H | -L | -P]
[-dEhsXx]
-f file
[file ...]
[expression]
DESCRIPTION
find
recursively descends the directory tree for each
file
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:
- -H
-
The
-H
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 information of all symbolic links not on the command line is that
of the link itself.
- -L
-
The
-L
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.
- -P
-
The
-P
option causes the file information and file type (see
stat(2))
returned for each symbolic link to be those of the link itself.
- -d
-
The
-d
option causes
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.
- -E
-
The
-E
option causes
regexp
arguments to primaries to be interpreted as extended regular
expressions (see
re_format(7)).
- -f
-
The
-f
option specifies a file hierarchy for
find
to traverse.
File hierarchies may also be specified as the operands immediately
following the options.
- -h
-
The
-h
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.
- -s
-
The
-s
option causes the entries of each directory to be sorted in
lexicographical order.
Note that the sorting is done only inside of each directory;
files in different directories are not sorted.
Therefore,
`
a/b
'
appears before
`
a.b
',
which is different from
``
find ... | sort
''
order.
- -X
-
The
-X
option is a modification to permit
find
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 delimiting characters include single
(``''')
and double
(``"'')
quotes, backslash
(``\''),
space, tab and newline characters.
Alternatively, the
-print0
or
-printx
primaries can be used to format the output in a way that
xargs
can accept.
- -x
-
The
-x
option restricts the search to the file system containing the
directory specified.
Does not list mount points to other file systems.
PRIMARIES
- -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
-
True if the current file has a more recent last access time than
file.
- -atime n
-
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.
- -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
-
True if the current file has a more recent last change time than
file.
- -ctime 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 24-hour period, is
n
24-hour periods.
- -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.
This can also be invoked as
-rm.
- -empty
-
True if the current file or directory is empty.
- -exec utility argument ...[.blm Pp
- ;]
- -exec utility argument ...[.blm Pp {} +
- ]
Execute the specified
utility
with the specified arguments.
The list of arguments is terminated by
``
;
''
or
``
+
''.
utility
will be executed from the directory from which
find
was executed.
If terminated by a semicolon
(``;''),
the
utility
is invoked once per path.
If the string
``{}''
appears anywhere in the utility name or the arguments,
it is replaced by the pathname of the current file.
If terminated by a plus sign
(``+''),
the pathnames for which the
primary is evaluated are aggregated into sets, and
utility
will be invoked once per set, similar to
xargs(1).
If any invocation exits with non-zero exit status, then
find
will eventually do so as well, but this does not cause
find
to exit early.
The string
``{}''
must appear, and must appear last.
Each set is limitted to no more than 5,000 pathnames,
and is also limitted such that the invokation of
utility
does not exceed
ARG_MAX
.
- -execdir utility argument ...[.blm Pp
- ;]
The
-execdir
primary is similar to the semicolon-terminated
(``;'')
variant of 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.
Set aggregation
(+``.blm Pp termination '')
is not supported.
- -exit[ n]
-
This primary causes
find
to stop traversing the filesystem and exit immediately if a
previous condition was met.
If no value is specified, the exit value will be 0, else
n.
Note that other primaries will be evaluated and acted upon before exiting.
- -false
-
This primary always evaluates to false.
This can be used following a primary that caused the
expression to be true to make the expression to be false.
This can be useful after using a
-fprint
primary so it can continue to the next expression (using an
-or
operator, for example).
- -flags -[.blm Ppflags
- ]
If
flags
are preceded by a dash
(``-''),
this primary evaluates to true
if at least all of the bits in
flags
are set in the file's flags bits.
If
flags
are not preceded by a dash, this primary evaluates to true if
the bits in
flags
exactly match the file's flags bits.
If
flags
is
``none'',
files with no flags bits set are matched.
(See
chflags(1)
for more information about file flags.)
- -follow
-
Follow symbolic links.
- -fprint filename
-
This primary always evaluates to true.
This creates
filename
or overwrites the file if it already exists.
The file is created at startup.
It writes the pathname of the current file to this file, followed
by a newline character.
The file will be empty if no files are matched.
- -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 filesystems
that are available on the system:
-
sysctl vfs.generic.fstypes
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
-
True if the last component of the pathname being examined
matches
pattern.
Case insensitive.
- -inum n
-
True if the file has inode number
n.
- -iregex regexp
-
True if the path name of the current file matches the case-insensitive
basic regular expression
(seere_format(7))
regexp.
This is a match on the whole path, not a search for the regular expression
within the path.
- -links n
-
True if the file has
n
links.
- -rm
-
This is an alias for
-delete.
- -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 current search depth is less than or equal to what is specified in
n.
- -mindepth n
-
True if the current search depth is at least what is specified in
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.
- -mtime n
-
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.
- -ok utility argument ...[.blm Pp
- ;]
The
-ok
primary is similar to the semicolon-terminated
(``;'')
variant of 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
-ok
primary evaluates to false.
Set aggregation
(+``.blm Pp termination '')
is not supported.
- -name pattern
-
True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches
pattern.
Special shell pattern matching characters
``]'',
``*'',
``?''
(``['',)
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.
- -nouser
-
True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
- -nogroup
-
True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
- -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 -[.blm Ppmode
- ]
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 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
(``-'').
- -print
-
This primary always evaluates to true.
It prints the pathname of the current file to standard output, followed
by a newline character.
If none of
-exec,
-exit,
-fprint,
-ls,
-ok,
-print0,
nor
-printx
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 a null character.
- -printx
-
This primary always evaluates to true.
It prints the pathname of the current file to standard output,
with each space, tab, newline, backslash, dollar sign, and single,
double, or back quotation mark prefixed by a backslash, so the output of
find
can safely be used as input to
xargs.
- -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 regexp
-
True if the path name of the current file matches the case-sensitive
basic regular expression
(seere_format(7))
regexp.
This is a match on the whole path, not a search for the regular expression
within the path.
- -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.
- -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
- W
-
whiteout
- w
-
whiteout
- -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 (and considered a numeric argument).
- -xdev
-
This primary always evaluates to true.
It causes find not to descend past directories that have a different
device ID (st_dev, see
stat(2)
S5.6.2 [POSIX.1]).
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''.
OPERATORS
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
-
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
.
Primaries which themselves take arguments expect each argument
to be a separate argument to
.
EXIT STATUS
The
find
utility normally exits 0 on success, and exits with 1 under certain
internal error conditions.
If any invokations of
``-exec ... +''
primaries return non-zero exit-status, then
find
will do so as well.
EXAMPLES
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 / \( -newer ttt -or -user wnj \) -exit 1
-
Return immediately with a value of 1 if any files are found that are either
owned by
``wnj''
or that are newer than
``ttt'',
but do not print them.
find / \( -newer ttt -or -user wnj \) -ls -exit 1
-
Same as above, but list the first file matching the criteria before exiting
with a value of 1.
SEE ALSO
chflags(1),
chmod(1),
locate(1),
xargs(1),
stat(2),
fts(3),
getgrent(3),
getpwent(3),
strmode(3),
symlink(7),
sysctl(8)
STANDARDS
The
find
utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the
IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'')
standard.
The options and the
-amin,
-anewer,
-cmin,
-cnewer,
-delete,
-empty,
-execdir,
-follow,
-fstype,
-iname,
-inum,
-iregex,
-links,
-ls,
-maxdepth,
-mindepth,
-mmin,
-path,
-print0,
-printx,
-regex,
and
-rm
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.
Support for
``-exec ... +''
is consistent with
IEEE PASC Interpretation 1003.2 #210,
though the feature originated in
SVR4.
The
-delete
primary does not interact well with other options that cause the filesystem
tree traversal options to be changed.
HISTORY
A much simpler
find
command appeared in First Edition AT&T Unix.
The syntax had become similar to the present version by
the time of the Fifth Edition.
BUGS
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.