In Unix-like and some other operating systems, find is a command-line utility that searches through one or more directory trees of a file system, locates files based on some user-specified criteria and applies a user-specified action on each matched file. The possible search criteria include a pattern to match against the file name or a time range to match against the modification time or access time of the file. By default, find returns a list of all files below the current working directory.
The related locate programs use a database of indexed files obtained through find (updated at regular intervals, typically by cron job) to provide a faster method of searching the entire filesystem for files by name.
Read more about Find: Find Syntax, POSIX Protection From Infinite Output
Famous quotes containing the word find:
“Long as there’s lunch counters, you can always find work.”
—Mother and Aunts Of Dorothy Allison, U.S. waitresses. As quoted in Skin, ch. 2, by Dorothy Allison (1994)
“When you enter a country, find out its customs.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Often, when I want to consult my impulses, I cannot find them.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)