find: Full Name Patterns
2.2.2 Full Name Patterns
------------------------
-- Test: -path pattern
-- Test: -wholename pattern
True if the entire file name, starting with the command line
argument under which the file was found, matches shell pattern
PATTERN. To ignore a whole directory tree, use '-prune' rather
than checking every file in the tree (⇒Directories). The
"entire file name" as used by 'find' starts with the starting-point
specified on the command line, and is not converted to an absolute
pathname, so for example 'cd /; find tmp -wholename /tmp' will
never match anything.
Find compares the '-path' argument with the concatenation of a
directory name and the base name of the file it's considering.
Since the concatenation will never end with a slash, '-path'
arguments ending in '/' will match nothing (except perhaps a start
point specified on the command line).
The name '-wholename' is GNU-specific, but '-path' is more
portable; it is supported by HP-UX 'find' and is part of the POSIX
2008 standard.
-- Test: -ipath pattern
-- Test: -iwholename pattern
These tests are like '-wholename' and '-path', but the match is
case-insensitive.
In the context of the tests '-path', '-wholename', '-ipath' and
'-wholename', a "full path" is the name of all the directories traversed
from 'find''s start point to the file being tested, followed by the base
name of the file itself. These paths are often not absolute paths; for
example
$ cd /tmp
$ mkdir -p foo/bar/baz
$ find foo -path foo/bar -print
foo/bar
$ find foo -path /tmp/foo/bar -print
$ find /tmp/foo -path /tmp/foo/bar -print
/tmp/foo/bar
Notice that the second 'find' command prints nothing, even though
'/tmp/foo/bar' exists and was examined by 'find'.
Unlike file name expansion on the command line, a '*' in the pattern
will match both '/' and leading dots in file names:
$ find . -path '*f'
./quux/bar/baz/f
$ find . -path '*/*config'
./quux/bar/baz/.config
-- Test: -regex expr
-- Test: -iregex expr
True if the entire file name matches regular expression EXPR. This
is a match on the whole path, not a search. For example, to match
a file named './fubar3', you can use the regular expression
'.*bar.' or '.*b.*3', but not 'f.*r3'. ⇒Syntax of Regular
Expressions (emacs)Regexps, for a description of the syntax of
regular expressions. For '-iregex', the match is case-insensitive.
As for '-path', the candidate file name never ends with a slash, so
regular expressions which only match something that ends in slash
will always fail.
There are several varieties of regular expressions; by default this
test uses POSIX basic regular expressions, but this can be changed
with the option '-regextype'.
-- Option: -regextype name
This option controls the variety of regular expression syntax
understood by the '-regex' and '-iregex' tests. This option is
positional; that is, it only affects regular expressions which
occur later in the command line. If this option is not given, GNU
Emacs regular expressions are assumed. Currently-implemented types
are
'emacs'
Regular expressions compatible with GNU Emacs; this is also
the default behaviour if this option is not used.
'posix-awk'
Regular expressions compatible with the POSIX awk command (not
GNU awk)
'posix-basic'
POSIX Basic Regular Expressions.
'posix-egrep'
Regular expressions compatible with the POSIX egrep command
'posix-extended'
POSIX Extended Regular Expressions
⇒Regular Expressions for more information on the regular
expression dialects understood by GNU findutils.
Info Catalog
find: Base Name Patterns
find: Name
find: Fast Full Name Search