find: Scope
1.1 Scope
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For brevity, the word "file" in this manual means a regular file, a
directory, a symbolic link, or any other kind of node that has a
directory entry. A directory entry is also called a "file name". A
file name may contain some, all, or none of the directories in a path
that leads to the file. These are all examples of what this manual
calls "file names":
parser.c
README
./budget/may-94.sc
fred/.cshrc
/usr/local/include/termcap.h
A "directory tree" is a directory and the files it contains, all of
its subdirectories and the files they contain, etc. It can also be a
single non-directory file.
These programs enable you to find the files in one or more directory
trees that:
* have names that contain certain text or match a certain pattern;
* are links to certain files;
* were last used during a certain period of time;
* are within a certain size range;
* are of a certain type (regular file, directory, symbolic link,
etc.);
* are owned by a certain user or group;
* have certain access permissions or special mode bits;
* contain text that matches a certain pattern;
* are within a certain depth in the directory tree;
* or some combination of the above.
Once you have found the files you're looking for (or files that are
potentially the ones you're looking for), you can do more to them than
simply list their names. You can get any combination of the files'
attributes, or process the files in many ways, either individually or in
groups of various sizes. Actions that you might want to perform on the
files you have found include, but are not limited to:
* view or edit
* store in an archive
* remove or rename
* change access permissions
* classify into groups
This manual describes how to perform each of those tasks, and more.
Info Catalog
find: Introduction
find: Overview