Find the man page

Is it some kind of arcane knowledge, handed down only to initiates after grueling initiations? Well, no. Actually, anyone can learn about Terminal commands, if they know where to look. The key to Terminal wisdom is the man command. In fact, man itself is a command, whose role is to format and display this documentation. Then, if you type man pwd , for example, Terminal will display the man page for the pwd command.

SEE VIDEO BY TOPIC: Man: How To More Effectively Make Use Of Man Pages

Content:

• find(1) - Linux man page
• find(1) [v7 man page]
• GUI Methods
• How to Search Man Pages at the Command Line
• How to use a man page: Faster than a Google search
• Linux find command
• man command in Linux with Examples
• FreeBSD Manual Pages

SEE VIDEO BY TOPIC: Linux Command Line (03) ls, command, and man pages

find(1) - Linux man page

Search a folder hierarchy for filename s that meet a desired criteria: Name, Size, File Type - see examples. GNU find searches the directory tree rooted at each given file name by evaluating the given expression from left to right, according to the rules of precedence see Operators , until the outcome is known the left hand side is false for AND operations, true for OR , at which point find moves on to the next file name.

The -H, -L and -P options control the treatment of symbolic links. That argument and any following arguments are taken to be the expression describing what is to be searched for. If no paths are given, the current directory is used.

If no expression is given, the expression '-print' is used but you should probably consider using '-print0' instead, anyway. This manual page talks about 'options' within the expression list. These options control the behaviour of find but are specified immediately after the last path name. The three 'real' options -H, -L and -P must appear before the first path name, if at all.

Never follow symbolic links. This is the default behaviour. When find examines or prints information a file, and the file is a symbolic link, the information used shall be taken from the properties of the symbolic link itself. Follow symbolic links.

When find examines or prints information about files, the information used shall be taken from the properties of the file to which the link points, not from the link itself unless it is a broken symbolic link or find is unable to examine the file to which the link points. Use of this option implies -noleaf. If you later use the -P option, -noleaf will still be in effect.

If -L is in effect and finddiscovers a symbolic link to a subdirectory during its search, the subdirectory pointed to by the symbolic link will be searched. When the -L option is in effect, the -type predicate will always match against the type of the file that a symbolic link points to rather than the link itself unless the symbolic link is broken.

Using -L causes the -lname and -ilname predicates always to return false. Do not follow symbolic links, except while processing the command line arguments. When find examines or prints information about files, the information used shall be taken from the properties of the symbolic link itself.

The only exception to this behaviour is when a file specified on the command line is a symbolic link, and the link can be resolved.

For that situation, the information used is taken from whatever the link points to that is, the link is followed. The information about the link itself is used as a fallback if the file pointed to by the symbolic link cannot be examined. If -H is in effect and one of the paths specified on the command line is a symbolic link to a directory, the contents of that directory will be examined though of course -maxdepth 0 would prevent this. If more than one of -H, -L and -P is specified, each overrides the others; the last one appearing on the command line takes effect.

Since it is the default, the -P option should be considered to be in effect unless either -H or -L is specified. GNU find frequently stats files during the processing of the command line itself, before any searching has begun.

These options also affect how those arguments are processed. Specifically, there are a number of tests that compare files listed on the command line against a file we are currently considering.

In each case, the file specified on the command line will have been examined and some of its properties will have been saved. If the named file is in fact a symbolic link, and the -P option is in effect or if neither -H nor -L were specified , the information used for the comparison will be taken from the properties of the symbolic link. Otherwise, it will be taken from the properties of the file the link points to. If find cannot follow the link for example because it has insufficient privileges or the link points to a nonexistent file the properties of the link itself will be used.

When the -H or -L options are in effect, any symbolic links listed as the argument of -newer will be dereferenced, and the timestamp will be taken from the file to which the symbolic link points. The same consideration applies to -anewer and -cnewer. The -follow option has a similar effect to -L, though it takes effect at the point where it appears that is, if -L is not used but -follow is, any symbolic links appearing after -follow on the command line will be dereferenced, and those before it will not.

The expression is made up of options which affect overall operation rather than the processing of a specific file, and always return true , tests which return a true or false value , and actions which have side effects and return a true or false value , all separated by operators.

If the expression contains no actions other than -prune, -print is performed on all files for which the expression is true. All options always return true. Except for -follow and -daystart, they always take effect, rather than being processed only when their place in the expression is reached. Therefore, for clarity, it is best to place them at the beginning of the expression.

A warning is issued if you don't do this. This option only affects tests which appear later on the command line. Dereference symbolic links. Implies -noleaf. The -follow option affects only those tests which appear after it on the command line. Unless the -H or -L option has been specified, the position of the -follow option changes the behaviour of the -newer predicate; any files listed as the argument of -newer will be dereferenced if they are symbolic links.

Similarly, the -type predicate will always match against the type of the file that a symbolic link points to rather than the link itself. Using -follow causes the -lname and -ilname predicates always to return false.

If you give this option and a file is deleted between the time findreads the name of the file from the directory and the time it tries to stat the file, no error message will be issued. This also applies to files or directories whose names are given on the command line. This option takes effect at the time the command line is read, which means that you cannot search one part of the filesystem with this option on and part of it with this option off if you need to do that, you will need to issue two find commands instead, one with the option and one without it.

An alternate name for -xdev, for compatibility with some other versions of find. Each directory on a normal Unix filesystem has at least 2 hard links: its name and its '.

Additionally, its subdirectories if any each have a '.. When find is examining a directory, after it has statted 2 fewer subdirectories than the directory's link count, it knows that the rest of the entries in the directory are non-directories 'leaf' files in the directory tree. If only the files' names need to be examined, there is no need to stat them; this gives a significant increase in search speed.

Currently-implemented types are emacs this is the default , posix-awk, posix-basic, posix-egrep and posix-extended. These warnings apply only to the command line usage, not to any conditions that find might encounter when it searches directories. The default behaviour corresponds to -warn if standard input is a tty, and to -nowarn otherwise. If file is a symbolic link and the -H option or the -L option is in effect, the access time of the file it points to is always used. When find figures out how many hour periods ago the file was last accessed, any fractional part is ignored:.

A file To match a date range you can specify more than one test. If file is a symbolic link and the -H option or the -L option is in effect, the status-change time of the file it points to is always used. See the comments for -atime to understand how rounding affects the interpretation of file status change times. The valid filesystem types vary among different versions of Unix; an incomplete list of filesystem types that are accepted on some version of Unix or another is: ufs, 4.

If the -L option or the -follow option is in effect, this test returns false unless the symbolic link is broken. In these patterns, unlike filename expansion by the shell, an initial '.

Please note that you should quotepatterns as a matter of course, otherwise the shell will expand any wildcard characters in them. It is normally easier to use the - samefile test instead. This option is deprecated, so please do not use it. See the comments for -atime to understand how rounding affects the interpretation of file modification times. To ignore a directory and the files under it, use -prune; see an example in the description of -wholename.

Braces are not recognised as being special, despite the fact that some shells including Bash imbue braces with a special meaning in shell patterns. The filename matching is performed with the use of the fnmatch 3 library function. Don't forget to enclose the pattern in quotes in order to protect it from expansion by the shell. If file is a symbolic link and the -H option or the -L option is in effect, the modification time of the file it points to is always used. The predicate -path is also supported by HP-UX find.

Since an exact match is required, if you want to use this form for symbolic modes, you might have to specify a rather complex mode string. Symbolic modes are accepted in this form, and this is usually the way in which would want to use them. You must specify 'u', 'g' or 'o' if you use a symbolic mode.

Symbolic modes are accepted in this form. If no permission bits in mode are set, this test currently matches no files.

However, it will soon be changed to match any file the idea is to be more consistent with the behaviour of perm This is a match on the whole path, not a search. For example, to match a file named '. The regular expressions understood by find are by default Emacs Regular Expressions, but this can be changed with the -regextype option. When -L is in effect, this can include symbolic links. The following suffixes can be used:. The 'b' suffix always denotes byte blocks and never 1 Kilobyte blocks, which is different to the behaviour of -ls.

If you want to search for symbolic links when -L is in effect, use -xtype. To ignore a whole directory tree, use -prune rather than checking every file in the tree. For symbolic links: if the -H or -P option was specified, true if the file is a link to a file of type c; if the -L option has been given, true if c is 'l'.

In other words, for symbolic links, -xtype checks the type of the file that -type does not check. Use operators to separate multiple actions. If the operator is omitted, - and is assumed. The default action is to -print all files for which the expression is true.

find(1) [v7 man page]

While they're not all well-advertised, there are actually a variety of means of getting help under Unix. Man pages correspond to online manuals for programs, file formats, functions, system calls, and so forth. If you've never read one before, the best way to start is by typing 'man man ' at the command line. Of course, while man pages are a vast improvement over the online documentation of most other OSes, they suffer from many failings: some people don't like to read text on the screen not very helpful unless you already know what to look for not always accessible even when present not always present, especially under Linux frequently hard to read, as they try to be authoritative and are therefore often too technical for new users frequently out of date That said, they're still better and more comprehensive than the alternatives. We'll try to address the first three failings in this document.

On Unix-like operating systems, the find command searches for files and directories in a file system. Within each directory tree specified by the given path s, it evaluates the given expression from left to right, according to the rules of precedence see " Operators ", below until the outcome is known. At that point find moves on to the next path until all path s have been searched. It can be used on its own to locate files, or in conjunction with other programs to perform operations on those files. The -H , -L and -P options control the treatment of symbolic links.

GUI Methods

Search a folder hierarchy for filename s that meet a desired criteria: Name, Size, File Type - see examples. GNU find searches the directory tree rooted at each given file name by evaluating the given expression from left to right, according to the rules of precedence see Operators , until the outcome is known the left hand side is false for AND operations, true for OR , at which point find moves on to the next file name. The -H, -L and -P options control the treatment of symbolic links. That argument and any following arguments are taken to be the expression describing what is to be searched for. If no paths are given, the current directory is used. If no expression is given, the expression '-print' is used but you should probably consider using '-print0' instead, anyway. This manual page talks about 'options' within the expression list. These options control the behaviour of find but are specified immediately after the last path name. The three 'real' options -H, -L and -P must appear before the first path name, if at all.

How to Search Man Pages at the Command Line

This guide shows how to navigate man pages using the man command. Everyone at some point in their Linux life has used it: the man command. However, while the man program itself appears to be rather simplistic in its construct, it has a few extra abilities than just simply scrolling through the page. This document hopes to help shed some light on these capabilities. Within these directories are some folders with the structure manX where X is the section number.

The manual covers various methods to use device, safety procedures and troubleshooting tips. When it comes to computers you rarely, if ever, get a physical manual. Short for manual pages , the man pages are a type of document that provides details on using various commands and applications.

How to use a man page: Faster than a Google search

By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy , Privacy Policy , and our Terms of Service. It only takes a minute to sign up. Pay attention to the section number: Suppose you want help on printf. The bash version of printf is in section 1, the C version is in section 3 or 3C.

Jump to navigation. It's easy to get into the habit of googling anything you want to know about a command or operation in Linux, but I'd argue there's something even better: a living and breathing, complete reference, the man pages , which is short for manual pages. The history of man pages predates Linux, all the way back to the early days of Unix. Man pages also have a reputation of being terse and, in a way, have a language of their own. Just like Unix and Linux, the man pages have not been static, and they continue to be developed and maintained just like the kernel.

Linux find command

Command line users are undoubtedly familiar with man pages, or manual pages, that contain details, help , and documentation to specified commands and functions. Referencing a man page can be essential when trying to learn proper syntax or how a command works, but with how large some manual pages are it can be a real drag to scroll through the entire man page to try and find a relevant portion. Note the flag is a capital -K, the string can be anything. Any matches to the syntax in the current man page will be highlighted. And for those who use Terminal app, remember you can also search and launch manual pages from the Terminal Help menu directly, which would then allow you to use the aforementioned string search to look within a help doc to get further details. Enjoy this tip?

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