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(find.info)Overview

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Enter node , (file) or (file)node

Overview
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   The principal programs used for making lists of files that match
given criteria and running commands on them are `find', `locate', and
`xargs'.  An additional command, `updatedb', is used by system
administrators to create databases for `locate' to use.

   `find' searches for files in a directory hierarchy and prints
information about the files it found.  It is run like this:

     find [FILE...] [EXPRESSION]

Here is a typical use of `find'.  This example prints the names of all
files in the directory tree rooted in `/usr/src' whose name ends with
`.c' and that are larger than 100 Kilobytes.
     find /usr/src -name '*.c' -size +100k -print

   `locate' searches special file name databases for file names that
match patterns.  The system administrator runs the `updatedb' program
to create the databases.  `locate' is run like this:

     locate [OPTION...] PATTERN...

This example prints the names of all files in the default file name
database whose name ends with `Makefile' or `makefile'.  Which file
names are stored in the database depends on how the system
administrator ran `updatedb'.
     locate '*[Mm]akefile'

   The name `xargs', pronounced EX-args, means "combine arguments."
`xargs' builds and executes command lines by gathering together
arguments it reads on the standard input.  Most often, these arguments
are lists of file names generated by `find'.  `xargs' is run like this:

     xargs [OPTION...] [COMMAND [INITIAL-ARGUMENTS]]

The following command searches the files listed in the file `file-list'
and prints all of the lines in them that contain the word `typedef'.
     xargs grep typedef < file-list