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FIND(1) BSD General Commands Manual FIND(1)

NAME

ffiinndd - walk a file hierarchy

SYNOPSIS

ffiinndd [-HH | -LL | -PP] [-EEXXddssxx] [-ff pathname] [pathname ...] expression

DESCRIPTION

FFiinndd 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:

-EE Interpret regular expressions followed by -rreeggeexx and -iirreeggeexx

options as extended (modern) regular expressions rather than basic regular expressions (BRE's). The reformat(7) manual page fully describes both formats.

-HH The -HH option causes 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 informa-

tion 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.

-LL The -LL 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.

-PP The -PP option causes 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.

-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(1), 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.

-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

default, ffiinndd visits directories in pre-order, i.e., before their

contents. Note, the default is not 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 immedi-

ately following the options.

-ss The -ss option causes ffiinndd 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.

-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

-aammiinn n

True if the difference between the file last access time and the time ffiinndd was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is n minutes.

-aanneewweerr file

Same as -nneewweerraamm.

-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.

-ccmmiinn 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 minute, is n minutes.

-ccnneewweerr file

Same as -nneewweerrccmm.

-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.

-ddeelleettee

Delete found files and/or directories. Always returns true. This executes from the current working directory as ffiinndd 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.

-ddeepptthh Always true; same as the -dd option. -ddeepptthh can be useful when

ffiinndd is used with cpio(1) to process files that are contained in directories with unusual permissions. It enures that you have write permission while you are placing files in a directory, then sets the directory's permissions as the last thing.

-eemmppttyy True if the current file or directory is empty.

-eexxeecc 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 the

string ``{}'' appears anywhere in the utility name or the argu-

ments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file. Utility will be executed from the directory from which ffiinndd was executed. Utility and arguments are not subject to the further expansion of shell patterns and constructs.

-eexxeeccddiirr utility [argument ...];

The -eexxeeccddiirr primary is identical to the -eexxeecc 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.

-ffllaaggss [-|++]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 -ppeerrmm, 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 pre-

ceded 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.

-ffssttyyppee 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 filesys-

tems 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 ffiinndd is being executed and the

latter matches any file system which is mounted read-only.

-ggrroouupp 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.

-iinnaammee pattern

Like -nnaammee, but the match is case insensitive.

-iinnuumm n

True if the file has inode number n.

-iippaatthh pattern

Like -ppaatthh, but the match is case insensitive.

-iirreeggeexx pattern

Like -rreeggeexx, but the match is case insensitive.

-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 llss -ddggiillss.

-mmaaxxddeepptthh n

True if the depth of the current file into the tree is less than or equal to n.

-mmiinnddeepptthh n

True if the depth of the current file into the tree is greater than or equal to n.

-mmmmiinn n

True if the difference between the file last modification time and the time ffiinndd was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is n minutes.

-mmnneewweerr file

Same as -nneewweerr.

-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.

-nnaammee 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 (``\'').

-nneewweerr file

True if the current file has a more recent last modification time than file.

-nneewweerrXY file

True if the current file has a more recent last access time (X=aa), change time (X=cc), or modification time (X=mm) than the last access time (Y=aa), change time (Y=cc), or modification time

(Y=mm) of file. In addition, if Y=tt, then file is instead inter-

preted as a direct date specification of the form understood by

cvs(1). Note that -nneewweerrmmmm is equivalent to -nneewweerr.

-nnooggrroouupp

True if the file belongs to an unknown group.

-nnoouusseerr

True if the file belongs to an unknown user.

-ookk utility [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 response. If the response is other than ``y'' the command is not

executed and the value of the -ookk expression is false.

-ookkddiirr utility [argument ...];

The -ookkddiirr primary is identical to the -eexxeeccddiirr primary with the

same exception as described for the -ookk primary.

-ppaatthh 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.

-ppeerrmm [-|++]mode

The mode may be either symbolic (see chmod(1)) or an octal num-

ber. 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 (SISUID | SISGID | SISTXT | SIRWXU | SIRWXG | SIRWXO) 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 (``-'').

-pprriinntt This primary always evaluates to true. It prints the pathname of

the current file to standard output. If none of -eexxeecc, -llss,

-pprriinntt00, or -ookk is specified, the given expression shall be

effectively replaced by (( given expression )) -pprriinntt.

-pprriinntt00

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).

-pprruunnee This primary always evaluates to true. It causes ffiinndd to not

descend into the current file. Note, the -pprruunnee primary has no

effect if the -dd option was specified.

-rreeggeexx 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/''.

-ssiizzee n[cc]

True if the file's size, rounded up, in 512-byte blocks is n. If

n is followed by a cc, then the primary is true if the file's size is n bytes (characters).

-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 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 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. (( expression )) This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression evaluates to true. !! expression

-ffaallssee expression

-nnoott expression

This is the unary NOT operator. It evaluates to true if the expression is false.

expression -aanndd expression

expression expression

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.

expression -oorr expression

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 evalu-

ated 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 argument 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.

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.

BUGS

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 expression, it is difficult to specify files named -xdev or !.

These problems are handled by the -ff option and the getopt(3) ``--'' con-

struct.

The -ddeelleettee primary does not interact well with other options that cause

the filesystem tree traversal options to be changed. HISTORY A ffiinndd command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX. BSD May 3, 2001 BSD