1 This is find.info, produced by makeinfo version 4.0 from find.texi.
4 * Finding Files: (find). Listing and operating on files
5 that match certain criteria.
8 This file documents the GNU utilities for finding files that match
9 certain criteria and performing various operations on them.
11 Copyright (C) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
14 manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
15 preserved on all copies.
17 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
18 this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
19 the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
20 permission notice identical to this one.
22 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
23 manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
24 versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
25 translation approved by the Foundation.
28 File: find.info, Node: Viewing And Editing, Next: Archiving, Up: Common Tasks
33 To view a list of files that meet certain criteria, simply run your
34 file viewing program with the file names as arguments. Shells
35 substitute a command enclosed in backquotes with its output, so the
36 whole command looks like this:
38 less `find /usr/include -name '*.h' | xargs grep -l mode_t`
40 You can edit those files by giving an editor name instead of a file
44 File: find.info, Node: Archiving, Next: Cleaning Up, Prev: Viewing And Editing, Up: Common Tasks
49 You can pass a list of files produced by `find' to a file archiving
50 program. GNU `tar' and `cpio' can both read lists of file names from
51 the standard input--either delimited by nulls (the safe way) or by
52 blanks (the lazy, risky default way). To use null-delimited names,
53 give them the `--null' option. You can store a file archive in a file,
54 write it on a tape, or send it over a network to extract on another
57 One common use of `find' to archive files is to send a list of the
58 files in a directory tree to `cpio'. Use `-depth' so if a directory
59 does not have write permission for its owner, its contents can still be
60 restored from the archive since the directory's permissions are
61 restored after its contents. Here is an example of doing this using
62 `cpio'; you could use a more complex `find' expression to archive only
65 find . -depth -print0 |
66 cpio --create --null --format=crc --file=/dev/nrst0
68 You could restore that archive using this command:
70 cpio --extract --null --make-dir --unconditional \
71 --preserve --file=/dev/nrst0
73 Here are the commands to do the same things using `tar':
75 find . -depth -print0 |
76 tar --create --null --files-from=- --file=/dev/nrst0
78 tar --extract --null --preserve-perm --same-owner \
81 Here is an example of copying a directory from one machine to
84 find . -depth -print0 | cpio -0o -Hnewc |
85 rsh OTHER-MACHINE "cd `pwd` && cpio -i0dum"
88 File: find.info, Node: Cleaning Up, Next: Strange File Names, Prev: Archiving, Up: Common Tasks
93 This section gives examples of removing unwanted files in various
94 situations. Here is a command to remove the CVS backup files created
95 when an update requires a merge:
97 find . -name '.#*' -print0 | xargs -0r rm -f
99 You can run this command to clean out your clutter in `/tmp'. You
100 might place it in the file your shell runs when you log out
101 (`.bash_logout', `.logout', or `.zlogout', depending on which shell you
104 find /tmp -user $LOGNAME -type f -print0 | xargs -0 -r rm -f
106 To remove old Emacs backup and auto-save files, you can use a command
107 like the following. It is especially important in this case to use
108 null-terminated file names because Emacs packages like the VM mailer
109 often create temporary file names with spaces in them, like `#reply to
110 David J. MacKenzie<1>#'.
112 find ~ \( -name '*~' -o -name '#*#' \) -print0 |
113 xargs --no-run-if-empty --null rm -vf
115 Removing old files from `/tmp' is commonly done from `cron':
117 find /tmp /var/tmp -not -type d -mtime +3 -print0 |
118 xargs --null --no-run-if-empty rm -f
120 find /tmp /var/tmp -depth -mindepth 1 -type d -empty -exec rmdir {} \;
122 The second `find' command above uses `-depth' so it cleans out empty
123 directories depth-first, hoping that the parents become empty and can
124 be removed too. It uses `-mindepth' to avoid removing `/tmp' itself if
125 it becomes totally empty.
128 File: find.info, Node: Strange File Names, Next: Fixing Permissions, Prev: Cleaning Up, Up: Common Tasks
133 `find' can help you remove or rename a file with strange characters
134 in its name. People are sometimes stymied by files whose names contain
135 characters such as spaces, tabs, control characters, or characters with
136 the high bit set. The simplest way to remove such files is:
138 rm -i SOME*PATTERN*THAT*MATCHES*THE*PROBLEM*FILE
140 `rm' asks you whether to remove each file matching the given
141 pattern. If you are using an old shell, this approach might not work if
142 the file name contains a character with the high bit set; the shell may
143 strip it off. A more reliable way is:
145 find . -maxdepth 1 TESTS -ok rm '{}' \;
147 where TESTS uniquely identify the file. The `-maxdepth 1' option
148 prevents `find' from wasting time searching for the file in any
149 subdirectories; if there are no subdirectories, you may omit it. A
150 good way to uniquely identify the problem file is to figure out its
155 Suppose you have a file whose name contains control characters, and
156 you have found that its inode number is 12345. This command prompts
157 you for whether to remove it:
159 find . -maxdepth 1 -inum 12345 -ok rm -f '{}' \;
161 If you don't want to be asked, perhaps because the file name may
162 contain a strange character sequence that will mess up your screen when
163 printed, then use `-exec' instead of `-ok'.
165 If you want to rename the file instead, you can use `mv' instead of
168 find . -maxdepth 1 -inum 12345 -ok mv '{}' NEW-FILE-NAME \;
171 File: find.info, Node: Fixing Permissions, Next: Classifying Files, Prev: Strange File Names, Up: Common Tasks
176 Suppose you want to make sure that everyone can write to the
177 directories in a certain directory tree. Here is a way to find
178 directories lacking either user or group write permission (or both),
179 and fix their permissions:
181 find . -type d -not -perm -ug=w | xargs chmod ug+w
183 You could also reverse the operations, if you want to make sure that
184 directories do _not_ have world write permission.
187 File: find.info, Node: Classifying Files, Prev: Fixing Permissions, Up: Common Tasks
192 If you want to classify a set of files into several groups based on
193 different criteria, you can use the comma operator to perform multiple
194 independent tests on the files. Here is an example:
196 find / -type d \( -perm -o=w -fprint allwrite , \
197 -perm -o=x -fprint allexec \)
199 echo "Directories that can be written to by everyone:"
202 echo "Directories with search permissions for everyone:"
205 `find' has only to make one scan through the directory tree (which
206 is one of the most time consuming parts of its work).
209 File: find.info, Node: Databases, Next: File Permissions, Prev: Common Tasks, Up: Top
214 The file name databases used by `locate' contain lists of files that
215 were in particular directory trees when the databases were last
216 updated. The file name of the default database is determined when
217 `locate' and `updatedb' are configured and installed. The frequency
218 with which the databases are updated and the directories for which they
219 contain entries depend on how often `updatedb' is run, and with which
224 * Database Locations::
228 File: find.info, Node: Database Locations, Next: Database Formats, Up: Databases
233 There can be multiple file name databases. Users can select which
234 databases `locate' searches using an environment variable or a command
235 line option. The system administrator can choose the file name of the
236 default database, the frequency with which the databases are updated,
237 and the directories for which they contain entries. File name
238 databases are updated by running the `updatedb' program, typically
241 In networked environments, it often makes sense to build a database
242 at the root of each filesystem, containing the entries for that
243 filesystem. `updatedb' is then run for each filesystem on the
244 fileserver where that filesystem is on a local disk, to prevent
245 thrashing the network. Here are the options to `updatedb' to select
246 which directories each database contains entries for:
248 `--localpaths='PATH...''
249 Non-network directories to put in the database. Default is `/'.
251 `--netpaths='PATH...''
252 Network (NFS, AFS, RFS, etc.) directories to put in the database.
253 The environment variable `NETPATHS' also sets this value. Default
256 `--prunepaths='PATH...''
257 Directories to not put in the database, which would otherwise be.
258 The environment variable `PRUNEPATHS' also sets this value.
259 Default is `/tmp /usr/tmp /var/tmp /afs'.
261 `--prunefs='PATH...''
262 File systems to not put in the database, which would otherwise be.
263 Note that files are pruned when a file system is reached; Any file
264 system mounted under an undesired file system will be ignored.
265 The environment variable `PRUNEFS' also sets this value. Default
269 The database file to build. Default is system-dependent, but
270 typically `/usr/local/var/locatedb'.
273 The user to search the non-network directories as, using `su'.
274 Default is to search the non-network directories as the current
275 user. You can also use the environment variable `LOCALUSER' to
279 The user to search network directories as, using `su'. Default is
280 `daemon'. You can also use the environment variable `NETUSER' to
284 File: find.info, Node: Database Formats, Prev: Database Locations, Up: Databases
289 The file name databases contain lists of files that were in
290 particular directory trees when the databases were last updated. The
291 file name database format changed starting with GNU `locate' version
292 4.0 to allow machines with different byte orderings to share the
293 databases. The new GNU `locate' can read both the old and new database
294 formats. However, old versions of `locate' and `find' produce incorrect
295 results if given a new-format database.
299 * New Database Format::
301 * Old Database Format::
304 File: find.info, Node: New Database Format, Next: Sample Database, Up: Database Formats
309 `updatedb' runs a program called `frcode' to "front-compress" the
310 list of file names, which reduces the database size by a factor of 4 to
311 5. Front-compression (also known as incremental encoding) works as
314 The database entries are a sorted list (case-insensitively, for
315 users' convenience). Since the list is sorted, each entry is likely to
316 share a prefix (initial string) with the previous entry. Each database
317 entry begins with an offset-differential count byte, which is the
318 additional number of characters of prefix of the preceding entry to use
319 beyond the number that the preceding entry is using of its predecessor.
320 (The counts can be negative.) Following the count is a
321 null-terminated ASCII remainder--the part of the name that follows the
324 If the offset-differential count is larger than can be stored in a
325 byte (+/-127), the byte has the value 0x80 and the count follows in a
326 2-byte word, with the high byte first (network byte order).
328 Every database begins with a dummy entry for a file called
329 `LOCATE02', which `locate' checks for to ensure that the database file
330 has the correct format; it ignores the entry in doing the search.
332 Databases can not be concatenated together, even if the first (dummy)
333 entry is trimmed from all but the first database. This is because the
334 offset-differential count in the first entry of the second and following
335 databases will be wrong.
338 File: find.info, Node: Sample Database, Next: Old Database Format, Prev: New Database Format, Up: Database Formats
343 Sample input to `frcode':
346 /usr/src/cmd/aardvark.c
347 /usr/src/cmd/armadillo.c
350 Length of the longest prefix of the preceding entry to share:
357 Output from `frcode', with trailing nulls changed to newlines and
358 count bytes made printable:
366 (6 = 14 - 8, and -9 = 5 - 14)
369 File: find.info, Node: Old Database Format, Prev: Sample Database, Up: Database Formats
374 The old database format is used by Unix `locate' and `find' programs
375 and earlier releases of the GNU ones. `updatedb' produces this format
376 if given the `--old-format' option.
378 `updatedb' runs programs called `bigram' and `code' to produce
379 old-format databases. The old format differs from the new one in the
380 following ways. Instead of each entry starting with an
381 offset-differential count byte and ending with a null, byte values from
382 0 through 28 indicate offset-differential counts from -14 through 14.
383 The byte value indicating that a long offset-differential count follows
384 is 0x1e (30), not 0x80. The long counts are stored in host byte order,
385 which is not necessarily network byte order, and host integer word size,
386 which is usually 4 bytes. They also represent a count 14 less than
387 their value. The database lines have no termination byte; the start of
388 the next line is indicated by its first byte having a value <= 30.
390 In addition, instead of starting with a dummy entry, the old database
391 format starts with a 256 byte table containing the 128 most common
392 bigrams in the file list. A bigram is a pair of adjacent bytes. Bytes
393 in the database that have the high bit set are indexes (with the high
394 bit cleared) into the bigram table. The bigram and offset-differential
395 count coding makes these databases 20-25% smaller than the new format,
396 but makes them not 8-bit clean. Any byte in a file name that is in the
397 ranges used for the special codes is replaced in the database by a
398 question mark, which not coincidentally is the shell wildcard to match a
402 File: find.info, Node: File Permissions, Next: Reference, Prev: Databases, Up: Top
407 Each file has a set of "permissions" that control the kinds of
408 access that users have to that file. The permissions for a file are
409 also called its "access mode". They can be represented either in
410 symbolic form or as an octal number.
414 * Mode Structure:: Structure of file permissions.
415 * Symbolic Modes:: Mnemonic permissions representation.
416 * Numeric Modes:: Permissions as octal numbers.
419 File: find.info, Node: Mode Structure, Next: Symbolic Modes, Up: File Permissions
421 Structure of File Permissions
422 =============================
424 There are three kinds of permissions that a user can have for a file:
426 1. permission to read the file. For directories, this means
427 permission to list the contents of the directory.
429 2. permission to write to (change) the file. For directories, this
430 means permission to create and remove files in the directory.
432 3. permission to execute the file (run it as a program). For
433 directories, this means permission to access files in the
436 There are three categories of users who may have different
437 permissions to perform any of the above operations on a file:
441 2. other users who are in the file's group;
445 Files are given an owner and group when they are created. Usually
446 the owner is the current user and the group is the group of the
447 directory the file is in, but this varies with the operating system, the
448 filesystem the file is created on, and the way the file is created. You
449 can change the owner and group of a file by using the `chown' and
452 In addition to the three sets of three permissions listed above, a
453 file's permissions have three special components, which affect only
454 executable files (programs) and, on some systems, directories:
456 1. set the process's effective user ID to that of the file upon
457 execution (called the "setuid bit"). No effect on directories.
459 2. set the process's effective group ID to that of the file upon
460 execution (called the "setgid bit"). For directories on some
461 systems, put files created in the directory into the same group as
462 the directory, no matter what group the user who creates them is
465 3. save the program's text image on the swap device so it will load
466 more quickly when run (called the "sticky bit"). For directories
467 on some systems, prevent users from removing files that they do
468 not own in the directory; this is called making the directory
472 File: find.info, Node: Symbolic Modes, Next: Numeric Modes, Prev: Mode Structure, Up: File Permissions
477 "Symbolic modes" represent changes to files' permissions as
478 operations on single-character symbols. They allow you to modify either
479 all or selected parts of files' permissions, optionally based on their
480 previous values, and perhaps on the current `umask' as well (*note
481 Umask and Protection::).
483 The format of symbolic modes is:
485 [ugoa...][[+-=][rwxXstugo...]...][,...]
487 The following sections describe the operators and other details of
492 * Setting Permissions:: Basic operations on permissions.
493 * Copying Permissions:: Copying existing permissions.
494 * Changing Special Permissions:: Special permissions.
495 * Conditional Executability:: Conditionally affecting executability.
496 * Multiple Changes:: Making multiple changes.
497 * Umask and Protection:: The effect of the umask.
500 File: find.info, Node: Setting Permissions, Next: Copying Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
505 The basic symbolic operations on a file's permissions are adding,
506 removing, and setting the permission that certain users have to read,
507 write, and execute the file. These operations have the following
510 USERS OPERATION PERMISSIONS
512 The spaces between the three parts above are shown for readability only;
513 symbolic modes can not contain spaces.
515 The USERS part tells which users' access to the file is changed. It
516 consists of one or more of the following letters (or it can be empty;
517 *note Umask and Protection::, for a description of what happens then).
518 When more than one of these letters is given, the order that they are
522 the user who owns the file;
525 other users who are in the file's group;
531 all users; the same as `ugo'.
533 The OPERATION part tells how to change the affected users' access to
534 the file, and is one of the following symbols:
537 to add the PERMISSIONS to whatever permissions the USERS already
541 to remove the PERMISSIONS from whatever permissions the USERS
542 already have for the file;
545 to make the PERMISSIONS the only permissions that the USERS have
548 The PERMISSIONS part tells what kind of access to the file should be
549 changed; it is zero or more of the following letters. As with the
550 USERS part, the order does not matter when more than one letter is
551 given. Omitting the PERMISSIONS part is useful only with the `='
552 operation, where it gives the specified USERS no access at all to the
556 the permission the USERS have to read the file;
559 the permission the USERS have to write to the file;
562 the permission the USERS have to execute the file.
564 For example, to give everyone permission to read and write a file,
565 but not to execute it, use:
569 To remove write permission for from all users other than the file's
574 The above command does not affect the access that the owner of the file
575 has to it, nor does it affect whether other users can read or execute
578 To give everyone except a file's owner no permission to do anything
579 with that file, use the mode below. Other users could still remove the
580 file, if they have write permission on the directory it is in.
584 Another way to specify the same thing is:
589 File: find.info, Node: Copying Permissions, Next: Changing Special Permissions, Prev: Setting Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
591 Copying Existing Permissions
592 ----------------------------
594 You can base part of a file's permissions on part of its existing
595 permissions. To do this, instead of using `r', `w', or `x' after the
596 operator, you use the letter `u', `g', or `o'. For example, the mode
600 adds the permissions for users who are in a file's group to the
601 permissions that other users have for the file. Thus, if the file
602 started out as mode 664 (`rw-rw-r--'), the above mode would change it
603 to mode 666 (`rw-rw-rw-'). If the file had started out as mode 741
604 (`rwxr----x'), the above mode would change it to mode 745
605 (`rwxr--r-x'). The `-' and `=' operations work analogously.
608 File: find.info, Node: Changing Special Permissions, Next: Conditional Executability, Prev: Copying Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
610 Changing Special Permissions
611 ----------------------------
613 In addition to changing a file's read, write, and execute
614 permissions, you can change its special permissions. *Note Mode
615 Structure::, for a summary of these permissions.
617 To change a file's permission to set the user ID on execution, use
618 `u' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `s' in the PERMISSIONS
621 To change a file's permission to set the group ID on execution, use
622 `g' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `s' in the PERMISSIONS
625 To change a file's permission to stay permanently on the swap device,
626 use `o' in the USERS part of the symbolic mode and `t' in the
629 For example, to add set user ID permission to a program, you can use
634 To remove both set user ID and set group ID permission from it, you
639 To cause a program to be saved on the swap device, you can use the
644 Remember that the special permissions only affect files that are
645 executable, plus, on some systems, directories (on which they have
646 different meanings; *note Mode Structure::). Using `a' in the USERS
647 part of a symbolic mode does not cause the special permissions to be
652 has _no effect_. You must use `u', `g', and `o' explicitly to affect
653 the special permissions. Also, the combinations `u+t', `g+t', and
654 `o+s' have no effect.
656 The `=' operator is not very useful with special permissions; for
661 does cause the file to be saved on the swap device, but it also removes
662 all read, write, and execute permissions that users not in the file's
663 group might have had for it.
666 File: find.info, Node: Conditional Executability, Next: Multiple Changes, Prev: Changing Special Permissions, Up: Symbolic Modes
668 Conditional Executability
669 -------------------------
671 There is one more special type of symbolic permission: if you use
672 `X' instead of `x', execute permission is affected only if the file
673 already had execute permission or is a directory. It affects
674 directories' execute permission even if they did not initially have any
675 execute permissions set.
677 For example, this mode:
681 gives all users permission to execute files (or search directories) if
685 File: find.info, Node: Multiple Changes, Next: Umask and Protection, Prev: Conditional Executability, Up: Symbolic Modes
687 Making Multiple Changes
688 -----------------------
690 The format of symbolic modes is actually more complex than described
691 above (*note Setting Permissions::). It provides two ways to make
692 multiple changes to files' permissions.
694 The first way is to specify multiple OPERATION and PERMISSIONS parts
695 after a USERS part in the symbolic mode.
697 For example, the mode:
701 gives users other than the owner of the file read permission and, if it
702 is a directory or if someone already had execute permission to it,
703 gives them execute permission; and it also denies them write permission
704 to it file. It does not affect the permission that the owner of the
705 file has for it. The above mode is equivalent to the two modes:
710 The second way to make multiple changes is to specify more than one
711 simple symbolic mode, separated by commas. For example, the mode:
715 gives everyone permission to read the file and removes write permission
716 on it for all users except its owner. Another example:
720 sets all of the non-special permissions for the file explicitly. (It
721 gives users who are not in the file's group no permission at all for
724 The two methods can be combined. The mode:
728 gives all users permission to read the file, and gives users who are in
729 the file's group permission to execute it, as well, but not permission
730 to write to it. The above mode could be written in several different
736 File: find.info, Node: Umask and Protection, Prev: Multiple Changes, Up: Symbolic Modes
738 The Umask and Protection
739 ------------------------
741 If the USERS part of a symbolic mode is omitted, it defaults to `a'
742 (affect all users), except that any permissions that are _set_ in the
743 system variable `umask' are _not affected_. The value of `umask' can
744 be set using the `umask' command. Its default value varies from system
747 Omitting the USERS part of a symbolic mode is generally not useful
748 with operations other than `+'. It is useful with `+' because it
749 allows you to use `umask' as an easily customizable protection against
750 giving away more permission to files than you intended to.
752 As an example, if `umask' has the value 2, which removes write
753 permission for users who are not in the file's group, then the mode:
757 adds permission to write to the file to its owner and to other users who
758 are in the file's group, but _not_ to other users. In contrast, the
763 ignores `umask', and _does_ give write permission for the file to all
767 File: find.info, Node: Numeric Modes, Prev: Symbolic Modes, Up: File Permissions
772 File permissions are stored internally as 16 bit integers. As an
773 alternative to giving a symbolic mode, you can give an octal (base 8)
774 number that corresponds to the internal representation of the new mode.
775 This number is always interpreted in octal; you do not have to add a
776 leading 0, as you do in C. Mode 0055 is the same as mode 55.
778 A numeric mode is usually shorter than the corresponding symbolic
779 mode, but it is limited in that it can not take into account a file's
780 previous permissions; it can only set them absolutely.
782 The permissions granted to the user, to other users in the file's
783 group, and to other users not in the file's group are each stored as
784 three bits, which are represented as one octal digit. The three special
785 permissions are also each stored as one bit, and they are as a group
786 represented as another octal digit. Here is how the bits are arranged
787 in the 16 bit integer, starting with the lowest valued bit:
789 Value in Corresponding
792 Other users not in the file's group:
797 Other users in the file's group:
808 1000 Save text image on swap device
809 2000 Set group ID on execution
810 4000 Set user ID on execution
812 For example, numeric mode 4755 corresponds to symbolic mode
813 `u=rwxs,go=rx', and numeric mode 664 corresponds to symbolic mode
814 `ug=rw,o=r'. Numeric mode 0 corresponds to symbolic mode `ugo='.
817 File: find.info, Node: Reference, Next: Primary Index, Prev: File Permissions, Up: Top
822 Below are summaries of the command line syntax for the programs
823 discussed in this manual.
829 * Invoking updatedb::
833 File: find.info, Node: Invoking find, Next: Invoking locate, Up: Reference
838 find [FILE...] [EXPRESSION]
840 `find' searches the directory tree rooted at each file name FILE by
841 evaluating the EXPRESSION on each file it finds in the tree.
843 `find' considers the first argument that begins with `-', `(', `)',
844 `,', or `!' to be the beginning of the expression; any arguments before
845 it are paths to search, and any arguments after it are the rest of the
846 expression. If no paths are given, the current directory is used. If
847 no expression is given, the expression `-print' is used.
849 `find' exits with status 0 if all files are processed successfully,
850 greater than 0 if errors occur.
852 *Note Primary Index::, for a summary of all of the tests, actions,
853 and options that the expression can contain.
855 `find' also recognizes two options for administrative use:
858 Print a summary of the command-line argument format and exit.
861 Print the version number of `find' and exit.
864 File: find.info, Node: Invoking locate, Next: Invoking updatedb, Prev: Invoking find, Up: Reference
869 locate [OPTION...] PATTERN...
873 Instead of searching the default file name database, search the
874 file name databases in PATH, which is a colon-separated list of
875 database file names. You can also use the environment variable
876 `LOCATE_PATH' to set the list of database files to search. The
877 option overrides the environment variable if both are used.
881 Only print out such names that currently exist (instead of such
882 names that existed when the database was created). Note that this
883 may slow down the program a lot, if there are many matches in the
887 Print a summary of the options to `locate' and exit.
890 Print the version number of `locate' and exit.
893 File: find.info, Node: Invoking updatedb, Next: Invoking xargs, Prev: Invoking locate, Up: Reference
900 `--localpaths='PATH...''
901 Non-network directories to put in the database. Default is `/'.
903 `--netpaths='PATH...''
904 Network (NFS, AFS, RFS, etc.) directories to put in the database.
905 The environment variable `NETPATHS' also sets this value. Default
908 `--prunepaths='PATH...''
909 Directories to not put in the database, which would otherwise be.
910 The environment variable `PRUNEPATHS' also sets this value.
911 Default is `/tmp /usr/tmp /var/tmp /afs'.
913 `--prunefs='PATH...''
914 File systems to not put in the database, which would otherwise be.
915 Note that files are pruned when a file system is reached; Any file
916 system mounted under an undesired file system will be ignored.
917 The environment variable `PRUNEFS' also sets this value. Default
921 The database file to build. Default is system-dependent, but
922 typically `/usr/local/var/locatedb'.
925 The user to search the non-network directories as, using `su'.
926 Default is to search the non-network directories as the current
927 user. You can also use the environment variable `LOCALUSER' to
931 The user to search network directories as, using `su'(1). Default
932 is `daemon'. You can also use the environment variable `NETUSER'
936 File: find.info, Node: Invoking xargs, Prev: Invoking updatedb, Up: Reference
941 xargs [OPTION...] [COMMAND [INITIAL-ARGUMENTS]]
943 `xargs' exits with the following status:
949 if any invocation of the command exited with status 1-125
952 if the command exited with status 255
955 if the command is killed by a signal
958 if the command cannot be run
961 if the command is not found
964 if some other error occurred.
968 Input filenames are terminated by a null character instead of by
969 whitespace, and the quotes and backslash are not special (every
970 character is taken literally). Disables the end of file string,
971 which is treated like any other argument.
975 Set the end of file string to EOF-STR. If the end of file string
976 occurs as a line of input, the rest of the input is ignored. If
977 EOF-STR is omitted, there is no end of file string. If this
978 option is not given, the end of file string defaults to `_'.
981 Print a summary of the options to `xargs' and exit.
983 `--replace[=REPLACE-STR]'
985 Replace occurrences of REPLACE-STR in the initial arguments with
986 names read from standard input. Also, unquoted blanks do not
987 terminate arguments. If REPLACE-STR is omitted, it defaults to
988 `{}' (like for `find -exec'). Implies `-x' and `-l 1'.
990 `--max-lines[=MAX-LINES]'
992 Use at most MAX-LINES nonblank input lines per command line;
993 MAX-LINES defaults to 1 if omitted. Trailing blanks cause an
994 input line to be logically continued on the next input line, for
995 the purpose of counting the lines. Implies `-x'.
997 `--max-args=MAX-ARGS'
999 Use at most MAX-ARGS arguments per command line. Fewer than
1000 MAX-ARGS arguments will be used if the size (see the `-s' option)
1001 is exceeded, unless the `-x' option is given, in which case
1006 Prompt the user about whether to run each command line and read a
1007 line from the terminal. Only run the command line if the response
1008 starts with `y' or `Y'. Implies `-t'.
1012 If the standard input does not contain any nonblanks, do not run
1013 the command. By default, the command is run once even if there is
1016 `--max-chars=MAX-CHARS'
1018 Use at most MAX-CHARS characters per command line, including the
1019 command and initial arguments and the terminating nulls at the
1020 ends of the argument strings.
1024 Print the command line on the standard error output before
1028 Print the version number of `xargs' and exit.
1032 Exit if the size (see the -S option) is exceeded.
1034 `--max-procs=MAX-PROCS'
1036 Run up to MAX-PROCS processes at a time; the default is 1. If
1037 MAX-PROCS is 0, `xargs' will run as many processes as possible at
1041 File: find.info, Node: Primary Index, Prev: Reference, Up: Top
1043 `find' Primary Index
1044 ********************
1046 This is a list of all of the primaries (tests, actions, and options)
1047 that make up `find' expressions for selecting files. *Note find
1048 Expressions::, for more information on expressions.
1052 * !: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1053 * (): Combining Primaries With Operators.
1054 * ,: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1055 * -a: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1056 * -amin: Age Ranges.
1057 * -and: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1058 * -anewer: Comparing Timestamps.
1059 * -atime: Age Ranges.
1060 * -cmin: Age Ranges.
1061 * -cnewer: Comparing Timestamps.
1062 * -ctime: Age Ranges.
1063 * -daystart: Age Ranges.
1064 * -depth: Directories.
1066 * -exec: Single File.
1067 * -false: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1068 * -fls: Print File Information.
1069 * -follow: Symbolic Links.
1070 * -fprint: Print File Name.
1071 * -fprint0: Safe File Name Handling.
1072 * -fprintf: Print File Information.
1073 * -fstype: Filesystems.
1076 * -ilname: Symbolic Links.
1077 * -iname: Base Name Patterns.
1078 * -inum: Hard Links.
1079 * -ipath: Full Name Patterns.
1080 * -iregex: Full Name Patterns.
1081 * -links: Hard Links.
1082 * -lname: Symbolic Links.
1083 * -ls: Print File Information.
1084 * -maxdepth: Directories.
1085 * -mindepth: Directories.
1086 * -mmin: Age Ranges.
1087 * -mount: Filesystems.
1088 * -mtime: Age Ranges.
1089 * -name: Base Name Patterns.
1090 * -newer: Comparing Timestamps.
1092 * -noleaf: Directories.
1093 * -not: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1095 * -o: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1097 * -or: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1098 * -path: Full Name Patterns.
1099 * -perm: Permissions.
1100 * -print: Print File Name.
1101 * -print0: Safe File Name Handling.
1102 * -printf: Print File Information.
1103 * -prune: Directories.
1104 * -regex: Full Name Patterns.
1106 * -true: Combining Primaries With Operators.
1109 * -used: Comparing Timestamps.
1111 * -xdev: Filesystems.