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34 .\" @(#)find.1 8.7 (Berkeley) 5/9/95
42 .Nd walk a file hierarchy
45 .Op Fl H | Fl L | Fl P
53 utility recursively descends the directory tree for each
61 listed below) in terms
62 of each file in the tree.
64 The options are as follows:
65 .Bl -tag -width indent
67 Interpret regular expressions followed by
71 options as extended (modern) regular expressions rather than basic
72 regular expressions (BRE's).
75 manual page fully describes both formats.
77 Cause the file information and file type (see
79 returned for each symbolic link specified on the command line to be
80 those of the file referenced by the link, not the link itself.
81 If the referenced file does not exist, the file information and type will
82 be for the link itself.
83 File information of all symbolic links not on
84 the command line is that of the link itself.
86 Cause the file information and file type (see
88 returned for each symbolic link to be those of the file referenced by the
89 link, not the link itself.
90 If the referenced file does not exist, the file information and type will
91 be for the link itself.
93 Cause the file information and file type (see
95 returned for each symbolic link to be those of the link itself.
100 to be safely used in conjunction with
102 If a file name contains any of the delimiting characters used by
104 a diagnostic message is displayed on standard error, and the file
106 The delimiting characters include single
112 space, tab and newline characters.
114 However, you may wish to consider the
116 primary in conjunction with
118 as an effective alternative.
122 to perform a depth\-first traversal, i.e., directories
123 are visited in post\-order and all entries in a directory will be acted
124 on before the directory itself.
127 visits directories in pre\-order, i.e., before their contents.
130 a breadth\-first traversal.
132 Specify a file hierarchy for
135 File hierarchies may also be specified as the operands immediately
136 following the options.
140 to traverse the file hierarchies in lexicographical order,
141 i.e., alphabetical order within each directory.
146 may give different results.
150 from descending into directories that have a device number different
151 than that of the file from which the descent began.
154 .Bl -tag -width indent
156 True if the difference between the file last access time and the time
158 was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is
161 .It Ic -anewer Ar file
164 .It Ic -atime Ar n Ns Op Cm smhdw
165 If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to
166 true if the difference between the file last access time and the time
168 was started, rounded up to the next full 24\-hour period, is
172 If units are specified, this primary evaluates to
173 true if the difference between the file last access time and the time
175 was started is exactly
178 Possible time units are as follows:
180 .Bl -tag -width indent -compact
193 Any number of units may be combined in one
195 argument, for example,
196 .Dq Li "-atime -1h30m" .
197 Units are probably only useful when used in conjunction with the
203 True if the difference between the time of last change of file status
204 information and the time
206 was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is
209 .It Ic -cnewer Ar file
212 .It Ic -ctime Ar n Ns Op Cm smhdw
213 If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to
214 true if the difference between the time of last change of file status
215 information and the time
217 was started, rounded up to the next full 24\-hour period, is
221 If units are specified, this primary evaluates to
222 true if the difference between the time of last change of file status
223 information and the time
225 was started is exactly
230 primary description for information on supported time units.
232 Delete found files and/or directories.
235 from the current working directory as
237 recurses down the tree.
238 It will not attempt to delete a filename with a
240 character in its pathname relative to
242 for security reasons.
243 Depth\-first traversal processing is implied by this option.
254 to process files that are contained in directories with unusual permissions.
255 It ensures that you have write permission while you are placing files in a
256 directory, then sets the directory's permissions as the last thing.
258 True if the current file or directory is empty.
259 .It Ic -exec Ar utility Oo Ar argument ... Oc Li \&;
260 True if the program named
262 returns a zero value as its exit status.
265 may be passed to the utility.
266 The expression must be terminated by a semicolon
270 appears anywhere in the utility name or the
271 arguments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file.
273 will be executed from the directory from which
279 are not subject to the further expansion of shell patterns
281 .It Ic -exec Ar utility Oo Ar argument ... Oc Li {} +
286 is replaced with as many pathnames as possible for each invocation of
288 This behaviour is similar to that of
290 .It Ic -execdir Ar utility Oo Ar argument ... Oc Li \&;
293 primary is identical to the
295 primary with the exception that
297 will be executed from the directory that holds
299 The filename substituted for
303 .It Ic -flags Oo Cm - Ns | Ns Cm + Oc Ns Ar flags , Ns Ar notflags
304 The flags are specified using symbolic names (see
314 are checked to be set, and flags in
316 are checked to be not set.
317 Note that this is different from
319 which only allows the user to specify mode bits that are set.
321 If flags are preceded by a dash
323 this primary evaluates to true
324 if at least all of the bits in
326 and none of the bits in
328 are set in the file's flags bits.
329 If flags are preceded by a plus
331 this primary evaluates to true
332 if any of the bits in
334 is set in the file's flags bits,
335 or any of the bits in
337 is not set in the file's flags bits.
339 this primary evaluates to true
342 exactly match the file's flags bits,
347 .It Ic -fstype Ar type
348 True if the file is contained in a file system of type
352 command can be used to find out the types of file systems
353 that are available on the system:
357 In addition, there are two pseudo-types,
361 The former matches any file system physically mounted on the system where
364 is being executed and the latter matches any file system which is
366 .It Ic -group Ar gname
367 True if the file belongs to the group
371 is numeric and there is no such group name, then
373 is treated as a group ID.
374 .It Ic -iname Ar pattern
377 but the match is case insensitive.
379 True if the file has inode number
381 .It Ic -ipath Ar pattern
384 but the match is case insensitive.
385 .It Ic -iregex Ar pattern
388 but the match is case insensitive.
394 This primary always evaluates to true.
395 The following information for the current file is written to standard output:
396 its inode number, size in 512\-byte blocks, file permissions, number of hard
397 links, owner, group, size in bytes, last modification time, and pathname.
398 If the file is a block or character special file, the major and minor numbers
399 will be displayed instead of the size in bytes.
400 If the file is a symbolic link, the pathname of the linked\-to file will be
401 displayed preceded by
403 The format is identical to that produced by
407 .It Ic -maxdepth Ar n
408 True if the depth of the current file into the tree is less than or equal to
410 .It Ic -mindepth Ar n
411 True if the depth of the current file into the tree is greater than or equal to
414 True if the difference between the file last modification time and the time
416 was started, rounded up to the next full minute, is
419 .It Ic -mnewer Ar file
422 .It Ic -mtime Ar n Ns Op Cm smhdw
423 If no units are specified, this primary evaluates to
424 true if the difference between the file last modification time and the time
426 was started, rounded up to the next full 24\-hour period, is
430 If units are specified, this primary evaluates to
431 true if the difference between the file last modification time and the time
433 was started is exactly
438 primary description for information on supported time units.
439 .It Ic -name Ar pattern
440 True if the last component of the pathname being examined matches
442 Special shell pattern matching characters
448 may be used as part of
450 These characters may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a
453 .It Ic -newer Ar file
454 True if the current file has a more recent last modification time than
456 .It Ic -newer Ns Ar X Ns Ar Y Ar file
457 True if the current file has a more recent last access time
458 .Ar ( X Ns = Ns Cm a ) ,
460 .Ar ( X Ns = Ns Cm c ) ,
462 .Ar ( X Ns = Ns Cm m )
463 than the last access time
464 .Ar ( Y Ns = Ns Cm a ) ,
466 .Ar ( Y Ns = Ns Cm c ) ,
468 .Ar ( Y Ns = Ns Cm m )
475 is instead interpreted as a direct date specification of the form
483 True if the file belongs to an unknown group.
485 True if the file belongs to an unknown user.
486 .It Ic -ok Ar utility Oo Ar argument ... Oc Li \&;
489 primary is identical to the
491 primary with the exception that
493 requests user affirmation for the execution of the
496 a message to the terminal and reading a response.
497 If the response is other than
499 the command is not executed and the
503 .It Ic -okdir Ar utility Oo Ar argument ... Oc Li \&;
506 primary is identical to the
508 primary with the same exception as described for the
511 .It Ic -path Ar pattern
512 True if the pathname being examined matches
514 Special shell pattern matching characters
520 may be used as part of
522 These characters may be matched explicitly by escaping them with a
527 are treated as normal characters and do not have to be
529 .It Ic -perm Oo Cm - Ns | Ns Cm + Oc Ns Ar mode
532 may be either symbolic (see
537 is symbolic, a starting value of zero is assumed and the
539 sets or clears permissions without regard to the process' file mode
543 is octal, only bits 07777
544 .Pq Dv S_ISUID | S_ISGID | S_ISTXT | S_IRWXU | S_IRWXG | S_IRWXO
545 of the file's mode bits participate
549 is preceded by a dash
551 this primary evaluates to true
552 if at least all of the bits in the
554 are set in the file's mode bits.
557 is preceded by a plus
559 this primary evaluates to true
560 if any of the bits in the
562 are set in the file's mode bits.
563 Otherwise, this primary evaluates to true if
566 exactly match the file's mode bits.
567 Note, the first character of a symbolic mode may not be a dash
570 This primary always evaluates to true.
571 It prints the pathname of the current file to standard output.
573 .Ic -exec , -ls , -print0 ,
576 is specified, the given expression shall be effectively replaced by
577 .Cm \&( Ar "given expression" Cm \&) Ic -print .
579 This primary always evaluates to true.
580 It prints the pathname of the current file to standard output, followed by an
582 character (character code 0).
584 This primary always evaluates to true.
587 to not descend into the current file.
590 primary has no effect if the
592 option was specified.
593 .It Ic -regex Ar pattern
594 True if the whole path of the file matches
596 using regular expression.
597 To match a file named
599 you can use the regular expression
607 .It Ic -size Ar n Ns Op Cm c
608 True if the file's size, rounded up, in 512\-byte blocks is
614 then the primary is true if the
619 True if the file is of the specified type.
620 Possible file types are as follows:
622 .Bl -tag -width indent -compact
638 .It Ic -user Ar uname
639 True if the file belongs to the user
643 is numeric and there is no such user name, then
645 is treated as a user ID.
648 All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be
649 preceded by a plus sign
653 A preceding plus sign means
655 a preceding minus sign means
660 The primaries may be combined using the following operators.
661 The operators are listed in order of decreasing precedence.
663 .Bl -tag -width "( expression )" -compact
664 .It Cm \&( Ar expression Cm \&)
665 This evaluates to true if the parenthesized expression evaluates to
668 .It Cm \&! Ar expression
669 .It Cm -false Ar expression
670 .It Cm -not Ar expression
674 It evaluates to true if the expression is false.
676 .It Ar expression Cm -and Ar expression
677 .It Ar expression expression
680 operator is the logical
683 As it is implied by the juxtaposition of two expressions it does not
684 have to be specified.
685 The expression evaluates to true if both expressions are true.
686 The second expression is not evaluated if the first expression is false.
688 .It Ar expression Cm -or Ar expression
691 operator is the logical
694 The expression evaluates to true if either the first or the second expression
696 The second expression is not evaluated if the first expression is true.
699 All operands and primaries must be separate arguments to
701 Primaries which themselves take arguments expect each argument
702 to be a separate argument to
705 The following examples are shown as given to the shell:
706 .Bl -tag -width indent
707 .It Li "find / \e! -name \*q*.c\*q -print"
708 Print out a list of all the files whose names do not end in
710 .It Li "find / -newer ttt -user wnj -print"
711 Print out a list of all the files owned by user
716 .It Li "find / \e! \e( -newer ttt -user wnj \e) -print"
717 Print out a list of all the files which are not both newer than
721 .It Li "find / \e( -newer ttt -or -user wnj \e) -print"
722 Print out a list of all the files that are either owned by
724 or that are newer than
726 .It Li "find . -newerct '1 minute ago' -print"
727 Print out a list of all the files whose inode change time is more
728 recent than the current time minus one minute.
748 utility syntax is a superset of the syntax specified by the
752 All the single character options as well as the
753 .Ic -iname , -inum , -iregex , -print0 , -delete , -ls ,
756 primaries are extensions to
763 options were implemented using the primaries
764 .Ic -depth , -follow ,
767 These primaries always evaluated to true.
768 As they were really global variables that took effect before the traversal
769 began, some legal expressions could have unexpected results.
770 An example is the expression
771 .Ic -print Cm -o Ic -depth .
774 always evaluates to true, the standard order of evaluation
777 would never be evaluated.
778 This is not the case.
789 Historic implementations of the
793 primaries did not replace the string
795 in the utility name or the
796 utility arguments if it had preceding or following non-whitespace characters.
797 This version replaces it no matter where in the utility name or arguments
802 option was implemented on the analogy of
807 The special characters used by
809 are also special characters to many shell programs.
810 In particular, the characters
821 may have to be escaped from the shell.
823 As there is no delimiter separating options and file names or file
826 it is difficult to specify files named
830 These problems are handled by the
839 primary does not interact well with other options that cause the file system
840 tree traversal options to be changed.