Difference between revisions 507868 and 507869 on knwiki

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{{lowercase|title=find}} 
The <code>'''find'''</code> program is a [[directory (file systems)|directory]] [[Search_  engine_  (computing)|search utility]] on [[Unix-like]] platforms. It searches through one or more directory [[tree (computing)|trees]] of a [[filesystem]], locating [[Computer file|file]]s based on some user-specified criteria. By default, <code>find</code> returns all files below the current [[working directory]]. Further, <code>find</code> allows the user to specify an action to be taken on each matched file. Thus, it is an extremely powerful program for applying actions to many files. It also supports [[Regular expression|regex]] matching.

The related, <code>'''[[GNU_  locate|locate]]'''</code> programs, use a database of indexed files obtained through <code>find</code> (updated at regular intervals, typically by <code>'''[[cron]]'''</code> job) to provide a faster method of searching the entire filesystem for files by name.  This sacrifices overall efficiency (because filesystems are regularly interrogated even when no users needs information)and absolute accuracy (since the database is not updated in real time) for significant speed improvements (particularly on very large filesystems).  On fast systems with small drives, <code>[[GNU_locate|locate]]locate</code> is not necessary or desirable.

== Find syntax ==
{{expand-section|date=August 2008}}

<code>'''find [-H] [-L] [-P] [path...] [expression]'''</code>

At least one path must precede the expression.  Find is capable of interpreting [[Wildcard character|wildcards]] internally and commands must be constructed carefully in order to control [[Glob (programming)|shell globbing]].
(contracted; show full)
The double quotes (" ") surrounding the search string and single quotes (<nowiki>' '</nowiki>) surrounding the braces are optional in this example, but needed to allow spaces and other special characters in the string.

===Search for all files owned by a user===
 find . -user <userid>

==See also==
*[[GNU
_locate|  locate]], a Unix search tool based on a prebuilt database therefore faster and less accurate than find
*[[mdfind]], a similar utility that utilizes metadata for [[Mac OS X]] and [[Darwin (operating system)|Darwin]]
*[[List of Unix programs]]
*[[List of DOS commands]]
*[[find (command)]], a DOS and Windows command that is very different from UNIX find

==External links==
*[http://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/ GNU Findutils] - Comes with the [[xargs]] and [[GNU locate|locate]] commands.
*[http://www.gnu.org/software/findutils/manual/html_mono/find.html Official webpage for GNU find]
*[http://www.softpanorama.org/Tools/Find/find_mini_tutorial.shtml Softpanorama find tutorial]
*{{man|1|find||search for files in a directory hierarchy}}
*[http://www.enciclopedia.galeon.com/find.html Exercises "Find"]
*[http://find.unixpin.com/ "Find helper" - unix "find" wizard]
*[http://www.oracle.com/technology/pub/articles/calish-find.html Guide to Linux Find Command Mastery]
*[http://www.shell-fu.org/lister.php?tag=find Top 'find' commands - interesting usage]

{{Unix commands}}

[[Category:Unix software]]
[[Category:Searching]]

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