FIND(1) BSD General Commands Manual FIND(1)NAMEfind — walk a file hierarchy
SYNOPSISfind [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-f pathname] [pathname ...] expression
DESCRIPTION
Find 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 The -H 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.
-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. This is the default.
-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(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.
-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.
-f The -f option specifies a file hierarchy for find to traverse.
File hierarchies may also be specified as the operands immedi‐
ately following the options.
-s The -s option causes 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 The -x option prevents find from descending into directories that
have a device number different than that of the file from which
the descent began.
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
Same as -neweram.
-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
Same as -newercm.
-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 rea‐
sons. 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 enures 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 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.
-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 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 sys‐
tem 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
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.
-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 inter‐
preted 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 excep‐
tion 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 explic‐
itly 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 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 (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 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 nei‐
ther means “exactly n”.
OPERATORS
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
-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 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 find. Primaries
which themselves take arguments expect each argument to be a separate
argument to find.
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 . -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.
SEE ALSOchflags(1), chmod(1), cvs(1), locate(1), whereis(1), which(1), stat(2),
fts(3), getgrent(3), getpwent(3), strmode(3), re_format(7), symlink(7)STANDARDS
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 pri‐
maries -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 evalu‐
ates 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 imple‐
mented 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).
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) “--” con‐
struct.
The -delete primary does not interact well with other options that cause
the filesystem tree traversal options to be changed.
HISTORY
A find command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.
BSD May 3, 2001 BSD
