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1 perry 1 LOCATE
2 !!!LOCATE
3 NAME
4 SYNOPSIS
5 DESCRIPTION
6 OPTIONS
7 ENVIRONMENT
8 SEE ALSO
9 ----
10 !!NAME
11
12
13 locate - list files in databases that match a pattern
14 !!SYNOPSIS
15
16
17 __locate__ [[-d path | --database=path] [[-e | --existing]
18 [[-i | --ignore-case ] [[--version] [[--help]
19 pattern...
20 !!DESCRIPTION
21
22
23 This manual page documents the GNU version of __locate__.
24 For each given pattern, __locate__ searches one or more
25 databases of file names and displays the file names that
26 contain the pattern. Patterns can contain shell-style
27 metacharacters: `*', `?', and `[[]'. The metacharacters do
28 not treat `/' or `.' specially. Therefore, a pattern
29 `foo*bar' can match a file name that contains `foo3/bar',
30 and a pattern `*duck*' can match a file name that contains
31 `lake/.ducky'. Patterns that contain metacharacters should
32 be quoted to protect them from expansion by the
33 shell.
34
35
36 If a pattern is a plain string -- it contains no
37 metacharacters -- __locate__ displays all file names in
38 the database that contain that string anywhere. If a pattern
39 does contain metacharacters, __locate__ only displays
40 file names that match the pattern exactly. As a result,
41 patterns that contain metacharacters should usually begin
42 with a `*', and will most often end with one as well. The
43 exceptions are patterns that are intended to explicitly
44 match the beginning or end of a file name.
45
46
47 The file name databases contain lists of files that were on
48 the system when the databases were last updated. The system
49 administrator can choose the file name of the default
50 database, the frequency with which the databases are
51 updated, and the directories for which they contain entries;
52 see __updatedb__(1L).
53 !!OPTIONS
54
55
56 ''-d path, --database=path''
57
58
59 Instead of searching the default file name database, search
60 the file name databases in ''path'', which is a
61 colon-separated list of database file names. You can also
62 use the environment variable __LOCATE_PATH__ to set the
63 list of database files to search. The option overrides the
64 environment variable if both are used.
65
66
67 The file name database format changed starting with GNU
68 __find__ and __locate__ version 4.0 to allow machines
69 with diffent byte orderings to share the databases. This
70 version of __locate__ can automatically recognize and
71 read databases produced for older versions of GNU
72 __locate__ or Unix versions of __locate__ or
73 __find__.
74
75
76 ''-e, --existing''
77
78
79 Only print out such names that currently exist (instead of
80 such names that existed when the database was created). Note
81 that this may slow down the program a lot, if there are many
82 matches in the database.
83
84
85 ''-i, --ignore-case''
86
87
88 Ignore case distinctions in both the pattern and the file
89 names.
90
91
92 ''--help''
93
94
95 Print a summary of the options to __locate__ and
96 exit.
97
98
99 ''--version''
100
101
102 Print the version number of __locate__ and
103 exit.
104 !!ENVIRONMENT
105
106
107 __LOCATE_PATH__
108
109
110 Colon-separated list of databases to search.
111 !!SEE ALSO
112
113
114 __find__(1L), __locatedb__(5L), __updatedb__(1L),
115 __xargs__(1L) __Finding Files__ (on-line in Info, or
116 printed)
117 ----
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