GNU Info

(find.info)Fast Full Name Search

---

Next: Shell Pattern Matching Prev: Full Name Patterns Up: Name

---

Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Fast Full Name Search
---------------------

   To search for files by name without having to actually scan the
directories on the disk (which can be slow), you can use the `locate'
program.  For each shell pattern you give it, `locate' searches one or
more databases of file names and displays the file names that contain
the pattern.  Note: Shell Pattern Matching, for details about shell
patterns.

   If a pattern is a plain string--it contains no
metacharacters--`locate' displays all file names in the database that
contain that string.  If a pattern contains metacharacters, `locate'
only displays file names that match the pattern exactly.  As a result,
patterns that contain metacharacters should usually begin with a `*',
and will most often end with one as well.  The exceptions are patterns
that are intended to explicitly match the beginning or end of a file
name.

   The command
     locate PATTERN

   is almost equivalent to
     find DIRECTORIES -name PATTERN

   where DIRECTORIES are the directories for which the file name
databases contain information.  The differences are that the `locate'
information might be out of date, and that `locate' handles wildcards
in the pattern slightly differently than `find' (Note: Shell Pattern
Matching).

   The file name databases contain lists of files that were on the
system when the databases were last updated.  The system administrator
can choose the file name of the default database, the frequency with
which the databases are updated, and the directories for which they
contain entries.

   Here is how to select which file name databases `locate' searches.
The default is system-dependent.

`--database=PATH'
`-d PATH'
     Instead of searching the default file name database, search the
     file name databases in PATH, which is a colon-separated list of
     database file names.  You can also use the environment variable
     `LOCATE_PATH' to set the list of database files to search.  The
     option overrides the environment variable if both are used.