LOCATE(1) BSD Reference Manual LOCATE(1)NAME
locate - find files
SYNOPSIS
locate pattern
DESCRIPTION
Locate searches a database for all pathnames which match the specified
pattern. The database is recomputed periodically, and contains the path-
names of all files which are publicly accessible.
Shell globbing and quoting characters (``*'', ``?'', ``\'', ``['' and
``]'') may be used in pattern, although they will have to be escaped from
the shell. Preceding any character with a backslash (``\'') eliminates
any special meaning which it may have. The matching differs in that no
characters must be matched explicitly, including slashes (``/'').
As a special case, a pattern containing no globbing characters (``foo'')
is matched as though it were ``*foo*''.
Note that /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb must be executed periodically from
cron(8) in order to keep the database for this command up to date. Symp-
toms of not running this update procedure include not being able to
``locate'' user files, especially new ones.
FILES
/var/db/locate.database
SEE ALSOfind(1), fnmatch(3)
Woods, James A., "Finding Files Fast", ;login, 8:1, pp. 8-10, 1983.
HISTORY
The locate command appears in 4.4BSD.
4.4BSD June 6, 1993 1