find(1)

For each symbolic link specified in pathname_list on the command line, the find command evaluates the file information and file type of the file referenced by the symbolic link, and not the link itself. If the file referenced by symbolic link does not exist, the find command evaluates the file information and file type for the link itself. For all symbolic links not on command line, the find command evaluates the file information and file type for the link itself.

For each symbolic link specified on the command line in pathname_list or encountered in the file hierarchy, the find command evaluates the file information and file type of the file referenced by symbolic link, and not the link itself.

True if the file access time subtracted from the initialized time is n-1 to n multiples of 24 h. The initialization time shall be a time between the invocation of the find utility and the first access by that invocation of the find utility to any file specified by its path operands. The access time of directories in pathname_list is changed by find itself.

Write the current file on device in cpio(4) format (5120-byte records). The use of -cpio implies -depth. Always true.

True if the time of last change of file status information subtracted from the initialization time is n-1 to n multiples of 24 h. The initialization time shall be a time between the invocation of the find utility and the first access by that invocation of the find utility to any file specified by its path operands.

A position-independent term which causes descent of the directory hierarchy to be done so that all entries in a directory are acted on before the directory itself. This can be useful when find is used with cpio (see cpio(1)) to transfer files that are contained in directories without write permission. It is also useful when using cpio and the modification dates of directories must be preserved. Always true.

True if the executed cmd returns a zero value as exit status. The end of cmd must be punctuated by a semicolon (;) or a plus sign (+). The semicolon and plus are special to the shell and must be escaped with a backslash (\). When + is used, cmd aggregates a set of path names and executes on the set. Any command arguments between the first occurrence of curly braces {} and plus sign + are ignored. In the UNIX 2003 environment, + indicates end of cmd, only if + immediately follows {}. The reason for preferring + to a ; is improved performance. With the ;, the command in -exec cmd executes for each match that the command finds. However, with {} +, the command executes only once.

Any command argument {} is replaced by the current path name. cmd may contain supplementary code set characters.

This example shows the difference between using ; and +. Two directories each have a file called, hello. Directory one has one file:

Directory /my/project/directory has three files:

The following find commands search for the file named hello in the directories:

When {} + is in the find command, echo hi executes only once. When ; is in the find command, echo hi executes for each match.

A position-independent term which causes find to follow symbolic links. When following symbolic links, find keeps track of the directories visited so that it can detect infinite loops; for example, such a loop would occur if a symbolic link pointed to an ancestor. This expression should not be used with the -type l Expression. Always true.

A position-independent term which causes find to stop descending any directory whose file system is not of the type specified by FStype, where FStype is one of cdfs, hfs, vxfs, or nfs, representing the CDFS, HFS, JFS (VXFS), or NFS file system type, respectively.

In this context, mount points inherit the FStype of their parent directory. This means that when -fsonly hfs has been specified and find encounters an NFS mount point that is mounted on an HFS file system, the mount point will be visited but entries below that mount point will not. It is important to note that when -fsonly nfs has been specified, any HFS file systems that are beneath the mount point of an NFS file system are not traversed. Always true.

True if the file system to which the file belongs is of type FStype, where FStype is one of cdfs, hfs, nfs, or vxfs corresponding to the CDFS, HFS, NFS, or JFS (VXFS) file system type, respectively.

True if the file belongs to the group gname. If gname is numeric and does not appear in the /etc/group file, it is taken as a group ID. The gname operand can be preceded by a + or - to modify the comparison of the primaries. If the argument n represents a decimal integer; +n means more than n, -n means less than n, and n means exactly n.

True if the file serial number (inode number) is n. Note that file serial numbers are unique only within a given file system. Therefore, matching file serial numbers does not guarantee that the referenced files are the same unless you restrict the search to a single file system.

True if the file is the same physical file as the file specified by path (i.e., linked to path). This primary is similar to -inum, but correctly detects when a file is hard-linked to path, even when multiple file systems are searched.

True if the file has n links.

True if the file physically resides on the local system. This does not restrict the search to only files which physically reside on the local system, it merely matches such files. See EXAMPLES.

Identical to -xdev. This primary is provided for backward compatibility only. -xdev is preferred over -mountstop.

True if the file modification time subtracted from the initialization time is n-1 to n multiples of 24 h. The initialization time shall be a time between the invocation of the find utility and the first access by that invocation of the find utility to any file specified in its path operands.

True if pattern file matches the last component of the current file name. Pattern is matched according to Pattern Matching Notation for file name expansion. Pattern should be escaped (using backslash) or quoted when find is invoked from the shell, to prevent the shell from expanding any metacharacters. Pattern may contain supplementary code set characters.

Same as -cpio but adds the -c option to cpio. The use of -ncpio implies -depth. Always true.

True if the current file has been modified more recently than the argument file.

True if the indicated time value (tv1) of the current file is newer than the indicated time value (tv2) of file. The time values tv1 and tv2 are each selected from the set of characters:

If the tv2 character is omitted, it defaults to m. Note that the -newer option is equivalent to -newermm.

Syntax examples;

True if the file belongs to a group ID that is not listed in the group database. See group(4).

True if the file belongs to a user ID that is not listed in the password database. See passwd(4).

Same as -exec except that the generated command line is printed with a question mark first, and is executed only if the user responds by typing y. The form of the affirmative response is locale dependent: y in the C locale, see LANG on environ(5). The end of cmd must be punctuated by a semicolon (;) (semicolon is special to the shell and must be escaped). cmd may contain supplementary code set characters.

This is a positive-logic version of -prune. A -prune is performed after every directory, unless -only is successfully evaluated for that directory. As an example, the following three commands are equivalent:

Note, however, that -only is useless if the -depth option has also been given. Always true.

Same as -name except the full path (as would be output by -print) is used instead of just the base name. Note that / characters are not treated as a special case. For example, */.profile matches ./home/fred/.profile.

Causes the current path name to be printed followed by a newline character. Always true.

Causes the current path name to be printed followed by a null character. Always true.

In this primary, the argument mode is used to represent file mode bits. The argument is identical in format to the mode operand as described in chmod(1), with the exception that the first character must not be the - operator. When using the symbolic form of mode, the starting template is assumed to have all file mode bits cleared.

If the leading minus is omitted, this primary is true when the file permission bits exactly match the value of mode. Bits associated with the symbolic attributes s (set-user-ID, set-group-ID) and t (sticky bit) are ignored when the minus is omitted.

If mode is preceded by a minus, this primary is true if all of the bits that are set in mode are also set in the file permission bits. In this case, the bits associated with the symbolic attributes s and t are significant.

If the current entry is a directory, cause find to skip that directory. This can be useful to avoid walking certain directories, or to avoid recursive loops when using cpio -p. Note, however, that -prune is useless if the -depth option has also been given. See the description of -only and the EXAMPLES section, below, for more information. Always true.

True if the file is n blocks long (512 bytes per block). If n is followed by a c, the size is in bytes.

True if the type of the file is c, where c is one of the following:

True if the file belongs to the user uname. If uname is numeric and does not appear as a login name in the /etc/passwd file, it is taken as a user ID. The uname operand can be preceded by a + or - to modify the comparison of the primaries. If the argument n represents a decimal integer; +n means more than n, -n means less than n, and n means exactly n.

A position-independent term that causes find to avoid crossing any file system mount points that exist below starting points enumerated in pathname_list. The mount point itself is visited, but entries below the mount point are not. Always true.

True if the parenthesized expression is true. The spaces are required. Parentheses are special to the shell and must be escaped, as in \( and \).

Logical AND operator. True if both of the expressions are true.

Logical OR operator. True if either or both of the expressions are true.

Logical NOT operator. True if expression is not true.

Match all files whose access control list includes all (zero or more) pattern entries specified by the aclpatt pattern.

Match a file only if its access control list includes all (zero or more) pattern entries specified by the aclpatt pattern, and every entry in its access control list is matched by at least one pattern entry specified in the aclpatt pattern.

Match all files containing optional access control list entries.

Match all files whose access control list includes all (zero or more) pattern entries specified by the aclpatt pattern.

Match a file only if its access control list includes all (zero or more) pattern entries specified by the aclpatt pattern, and every entry in its access control list is matched by at least one pattern entry specified in the aclpatt pattern.

Match all files containing optional access control list entries.