find: Scope
1
1 1.1 Scope
1 =========
1
1 For brevity, the word "file" in this manual means a regular file, a
1 directory, a symbolic link, or any other kind of node that has a
1 directory entry. A directory entry is also called a "file name". A
1 file name may contain some, all, or none of the directories in a path
1 that leads to the file. These are all examples of what this manual
1 calls "file names":
1
1 parser.c
1 README
1 ./budget/may-94.sc
1 fred/.cshrc
1 /usr/local/include/termcap.h
1
1 A "directory tree" is a directory and the files it contains, all of
1 its subdirectories and the files they contain, etc. It can also be a
1 single non-directory file.
1
1 These programs enable you to find the files in one or more directory
1 trees that:
1
1 * have names that contain certain text or match a certain pattern;
1 * are links to certain files;
1 * were last used during a certain period of time;
1 * are within a certain size range;
1 * are of a certain type (regular file, directory, symbolic link,
1 etc.);
1 * are owned by a certain user or group;
1 * have certain access permissions or special mode bits;
1 * contain text that matches a certain pattern;
1 * are within a certain depth in the directory tree;
1 * or some combination of the above.
1
1 Once you have found the files you're looking for (or files that are
1 potentially the ones you're looking for), you can do more to them than
1 simply list their names. You can get any combination of the files'
1 attributes, or process the files in many ways, either individually or in
1 groups of various sizes. Actions that you might want to perform on the
1 files you have found include, but are not limited to:
1
1 * view or edit
1 * store in an archive
1 * remove or rename
1 * change access permissions
1 * classify into groups
1
1 This manual describes how to perform each of those tasks, and more.
1