find.html

IEEE 1003.1-2003, Single Unix Specification v3

</dd>

<dt><b>-ok&nbsp;</b> <i>utility_name&nbsp;</i> <b>[</b><i>argument</i>&nbsp;...<b>]&nbsp;;</b></dt>

<dd><br>
The <b>-ok</b> primary shall be equivalent to <b>-exec</b>, except that the use of a plus sign to punctuate the end of the primary
expression need not be supported, and <i>find</i> shall request affirmation of the invocation of <i>utility_name</i> using the
current file as an argument by writing to standard error as described in the STDERR section. If the response on standard input is
affirmative, the utility shall be invoked. Otherwise, the command shall not be invoked and the value of the <b>-ok</b> operand
shall be false.</dd>

<dt><b>-print</b></dt>

<dd>The primary shall always evaluate as true; it shall cause the current pathname to be written to standard output.</dd>

<dt><b>-newer&nbsp;</b> <i>file</i></dt>

<dd>The primary shall evaluate as true if the modification time of the current file is more recent than the modification time of
the file named by the pathname <i>file</i>.</dd>

<dt><b>-depth</b></dt>

<dd>The primary shall always evaluate as true; it shall cause descent of the directory hierarchy to be done so that all entries in
a directory are acted on before the directory itself. If a <b>-depth</b> primary is not specified, all entries in a directory shall
be acted on after the directory itself. If any <b>-depth</b> primary is specified, it shall apply to the entire expression even if
the <b>-depth</b> primary would not normally be evaluated.</dd>
</dl>

<p>The primaries can be combined using the following operators (in order of decreasing precedence):</p>

<dl compact>
<dt>(&nbsp;<i>expression</i>&nbsp;)</dt>

<dd>True if <i>expression</i> is true.</dd>

<dt><b>!&nbsp;</b> <i>expression</i></dt>

<dd>Negation of a primary; the unary NOT operator.</dd>

<dt><i>expression&nbsp;</i> <b>[-a]&nbsp;</b> <i>expression</i></dt>

<dd><br>
Conjunction of primaries; the AND operator is implied by the juxtaposition of two primaries or made explicit by the optional
<b>-a</b> operator. The second expression shall not be evaluated if the first expression is false.</dd>

<dt><i>expression&nbsp;</i> <b>-o&nbsp;</b> <i>expression</i></dt>

<dd><br>
Alternation of primaries; the OR operator. The second expression shall not be evaluated if the first expression is true.</dd>
</dl>

<p>If no <i>expression</i> is present, <b>-print</b> shall be used as the expression. Otherwise, if the given expression does not
contain any of the primaries <b>-exec</b>, <b>-ok</b>, or <b>-print</b>, the given expression shall be effectively replaced by:</p>

<pre>
<tt>(</tt> <i>given_expression</i> <tt>) -print
</tt>
</pre>

<p>The <b>-user</b>, <b>-group</b>, and <b>-newer</b> primaries each shall evaluate their respective arguments only once.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_06"></a>STDIN</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>If the <b>-ok</b> primary is used, the response shall be read from the standard input. An entire line shall be read as the
response. Otherwise, the standard input shall not be used.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_07"></a>INPUT FILES</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_08"></a>ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The following environment variables shall affect the execution of <i>find</i>:</p>

<dl compact>
<dt><i>LANG</i></dt>

<dd>Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, <a href="../basedefs/xbd_chap08.html#tag_08_02">Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables</a> for
the precedence of internationalization variables used to determine the values of locale categories.)</dd>

<dt><i>LC_ALL</i></dt>

<dd>If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other internationalization variables.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_COLLATE</i></dt>

<dd><br>
Determine the locale for the behavior of ranges, equivalence classes, and multi-character collating elements used in the pattern
matching notation for the <b>-n</b> option and in the extended regular expression defined for the <b>yesexpr</b> locale keyword in
the <i>LC_MESSAGES</i> category.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_CTYPE</i></dt>

<dd>This variable determines the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example,
single-byte as opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments), the behavior of character classes within the pattern matching
notation used for the <b>-n</b> option, and the behavior of character classes within regular expressions used in the extended
regular expression defined for the <b>yesexpr</b> locale keyword in the <i>LC_MESSAGES</i> category.</dd>

<dt><i>LC_MESSAGES</i></dt>

<dd>Determine the locale for the processing of affirmative responses that should be used to affect the format and contents of
diagnostic messages written to standard error.</dd>

<dt><i>NLSPATH</i></dt>

<dd><sup>[<a href="javascript:open_code('XSI')">XSI</a>]</sup> <img src="../images/opt-start.gif" alt="[Option Start]" border="0">
Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of <i>LC_MESSAGES .</i> <img src="../images/opt-end.gif" alt=
"[Option End]" border="0"></dd>

<dt><i>PATH</i></dt>

<dd>Determine the location of the <i>utility_name</i> for the <b>-exec</b> and <b>-ok</b> primaries, as described in the Base
Definitions volume of IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, <a href="../basedefs/xbd_chap08.html">Chapter 8, Environment
Variables</a>.</dd>
</dl>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_09"></a>ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Default.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_10"></a>STDOUT</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The <b>-print</b> primary shall cause the current pathnames to be written to standard output. The format shall be:</p>

<pre>
<tt>"%s\n", &lt;</tt><i>path</i><tt>&gt;
</tt>
</pre>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_11"></a>STDERR</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The <b>-ok</b> primary shall write a prompt to standard error containing at least the <i>utility_name</i> to be invoked and the
current pathname. In the POSIX locale, the last non- &lt;blank&gt; in the prompt shall be <tt>'?'</tt> . The exact format used is
unspecified.</p>

<p>Otherwise, the standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_12"></a>OUTPUT FILES</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_13"></a>EXTENDED DESCRIPTION</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_14"></a>EXIT STATUS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>The following exit values shall be returned:</p>

<dl compact>
<dt>&nbsp;0</dt>

<dd>All <i>path</i> operands were traversed successfully.</dd>

<dt>&gt;0</dt>

<dd>An error occurred.</dd>
</dl>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_15"></a>CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>Default.</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>
<div class="box"><em>The following sections are informative.</em></div>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_16"></a>APPLICATION USAGE</h4>

<blockquote>
<p>When used in operands, pattern matching notation, semicolons, opening parentheses, and closing parentheses are special to the
shell and must be quoted (see <a href="xcu_chap02.html#tag_02_02"><i>Quoting</i></a> ).</p>

<p>The bit that is traditionally used for sticky (historically 01000) is specified in the <b>-perm</b> primary using the octal
number argument form. Since this bit is not defined by this volume of IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, applications must not assume
that it actually refers to the traditional sticky bit.</p>
</blockquote>

<h4><a name="tag_04_55_17"></a>EXAMPLES</h4>

<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>
<p>The following commands are equivalent:</p>

<pre>
<tt>find .
find . -print
</tt>
</pre>

<p>They both write out the entire directory hierarchy from the current directory.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The following command:</p>

<pre>
<tt>find / \( -name tmp -o -name '*.xx' \) -atime +7 -exec rm {} \;
</tt>
</pre>

<p>removes all files named <b>tmp</b> or ending in <b>.xx</b> that have not been accessed for seven or more 24-hour periods.</p>
</li>

<li>
<p>The following command:</p>