--- name: "aefind" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "aegis" version: "4.24.3-3" release: "Debian 8 (Jessie)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/aefind" --- # aefind(1) search for files in directory hierarchy ## NAME aefind - search for files in directory hierarchy ## SYNOPSIS **aefind** \[ *option*... \] *path*... *expression*\ **aefind** **-Help**\ **aefind** **-VERSion** ## DESCRIPTION The *aefind* command is used to search the combined directory tree of a change and its project. It is intentionally similar to *find (1),* however it unifies the directory stack of a change and its branch baseline, and the branch's ancestors' baselines if any. For each file found in the directory tree, the given expression is evaluated from left to right, according to the rules of precedence (see the section on OPERATORS, below), only until the outcome is known, at which point aefind moves on to the next file name. If no directory is named on the command line, the current directory is assumed. Files which have been removed from the project, even if they somehow remain in the directory tree, will not be reported. ## OPTIONS The following options are understood: - **-BaseLine** This option may be used to specify that the project baseline is the subject of the command. - **-BAse\_RElative** This option may be used to cause relative filenames to be considered relative to the base of the source tree. See [*aeuconf*(5)](/aeuconf/5.md) for the corresponding user preference. - **-CUrrent\_RElative** This option may be used to cause relative filenames to be considered relative to the current directory. This is usually the default. See [*aeuconf*(5)](/aeuconf/5.md) for the corresponding user preference. - **-Change** *number* This option may be used to specify a particular change within a project. See [*aegis*(1)](/aegis/1.md) for a complete description of this option. - **-Help** This option may be used to obtain more information about how to use the *aefind* program. - **-Project** *name* This option may be used to select the project of interest. When no **-Project** option is specified, the *AEGIS\_PROJECT* environment variable is consulted. If that does not exist, the user's *$HOME/.aegisrc* file is examined for a default project field (see [*aeuconf*(5)](/aeuconf/5.md) for more information). If that does not exist, when the user is only working on changes within a single project, the project name defaults to that project. Otherwise, it is an error. - **-Resolve** This option may be used to request that filenames be absolute paths, referring to the fully resolved file name. This is the default. - **-No\_Resolve** This option may be used to request that filenames be base relative names, relative to the root of the “stacked” directory tree. - **-Verbose** This option may be used to request that the expression be printed again on the standard output. This is the expression as understood by *aefind*, to assist you in ensuring that you and the command agree. The expression is fully parenthesized, and all implicit operators made explicit. Where possible, constant expressions will have been folded. See also [*aefind*(1)](/aefind/1.md) for options common to all aefind commands. All options may be abbreviated; the abbreviation is documented as the upper case letters, all lower case letters and underscores (\_) are optional. You must use consecutive sequences of optional letters. All options are case insensitive, you may type them in upper case or lower case or a combination of both, case is not important. For example: the arguments "-project, "-PROJ" and "-p" are all interpreted to mean the **-Project** option. The argument "-prj" will not be understood, because consecutive optional characters were not supplied. Options and other command line arguments may be mixed arbitrarily on the command line, after the function selectors.\ The GNU long option names are understood. Since all option names for *aefind* are long, this means ignoring the extra leading '-'. The "**--***option***=***value*" convention is also understood. ## EXPRESSIONS The expression is made up of basic elements, 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. ### BASIC ELEMENTS - **{}** The value of this expression is the file name of the file currently being considered. The value is affected the the **-Resolve** option. - **{-}** The value of this expression is the file name of the file currently being considered, relative to the base of the directory stack. - **{+}** The value of this expression is the absolute path of the file currently being considered. - *number* Numbers may be specified directly, for use with other tests and operators. In the style of C, they may be hexadecimal with a “0x” prefix, octal with a “0” prefix, or decimal otherwise. - *string* Strings may be specified directly, for use with other tests and operators. If the string contains shell meta-characters, you may need to quote it. - **-FAlse** The value of this expression is always false. - **-NOW** The value of this expression is the current time, at the start of execution. - **-TRue** The value of this expression is always true. ### OPERATORS The **-and** operator is assumed where the operator is omitted. You will need to quote many of the operators, to protect them from interpretation by the shell. Each operator must be a separate command line argument. - **(** *expr* **)** Force precedence. - **+** *expr* Unary plus. Is is an error if the argument cannot be coerced to a number. - **-** *expr* Unary minus. Result is the numeric negative of the argument. Is is an error if the argument cannot be coerced to a number. - **!** *expr* Logical negation of the sense of the expression. Is is an error if the argument cannot be coerced to a boolean.\ Synonym: **-Not** - **~** *expr* Bitwise not of the argument. Is is an error if the argument cannot be coerced to an integer. - *expr1* **\*** *expr2* This operation multiplies the two values. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **/** *expr2* This operation divides the argument value by the second. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to numbers. Is is an error if the second argument is zero. - *expr1* **%** *expr2* This operation produces the remainder of the division of the first argument by the argument. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to numbers. Is is an error if the second argument is zero. - *expr1* **~** *expr2* Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to strings. Is is an error if the first argument is not a valid pattern. The first argument is the pattern, and the second is the string The result is true if the pattern matches, and false if it does not. This operation performs a shell file pattern comparison. to be compared. - *expr1* **+** *expr2* This operation adds the two values. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **-** *expr2* This operation subtracts the second values from the first. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **##** *expr2* This operation concatenates the arguments. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to strings. (Note: this is *not* the same as the **:** operator of the [*expr*(1)](/expr/1.md) command.) - *expr1* **\<\<** *expr2* Shift the first argument left by the number of bits specified by the second argument. The left argument is treated as an *unsigned* number. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **\>\>** *expr2* Shift the first argument right by the number of bits specified by the second argument. The left argument is treated as an *unsigned* number. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **\<** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is less than the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **\<=** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is less than or equal to the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **\>** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is greater than the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **\>=** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is greater than or equal to the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **==** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is equal to the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **!=** *expr2* Compare the values and produce true if the first value is not equal to the second value, false otherwise. If both values can be coerced to numbers, the comparison is numeric; if both values can be coerced to strings, the comparison is lexicographic; otherwise is it an error. - *expr1* **&** *expr2* This operation produces the bitwise-and of the two values. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **\|** *expr2* This operation produces the bitwise-or of the two values. Is is an error if the values cannot be coerced to numbers. - *expr1* **&&** *expr2* Result is true if both expressions are true. Short circuit evaluation is used, and so *expr2* is not evaluated if *expr1* is false. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to booleans.\ Synonym: **-And** - *expr1 expr2* Logical and (implied). Result is true if both expressions are true. Short circuit evaluation is used, and so *expr2* is not evaluated if *expr1* is false. Please note that implicit operator plays merry hell with operator precedence, because there is no operator. If you are getting odd results, use explicit operators. - *expr1* **\|\|** *expr2* Result is true if either expression is true. Short circuit evaluation is used, and so *expr2* is not evaluated if *expr1* is true. Is is an error if the arguments cannot be coerced to booleans.\ Synonym: **-Or** - *expr1* **?** *expr2* **:** *expr3* The value of this expression is *expr2* if *expr1* is true, and *expr3* otherwise. The *expr1* is always evaluated, but only one of *expr2* or *expr3* will be evaluated. It is an error if the value of *expr1* cannot be coerced to boolean. - *expr1* **,** *expr2* Both *expr1* and *expr2* are always evaluated. The value of *expr1* is discarded; the value of the expression is the value of *expr2*. Operators have precedence as described by the following table, highest to lowest: | | | | --- | --- | | Operator | Direction | | *(unary)* + - ~ ! | ← | | \* / % ~ | → | | + - : | → | | \<\< \>\> | → | | \< \<= \> \>= | → | | == != | → | | & | → | | ^ | → | | \| | → | | && | → | | \|\| | → | | ? : | → | | , | → | ### FUNCTIONS There are a number of built-in functions which may be used in the expression. Functions may be invoked using a syntax similar to C functions. | | | --- | | *name* **(** *arguments* **)** | You need to leave spaces around the parentheses so that they are separate command line arguments. - atime This function may be used to determine the last-accessed-time of a file. It takes one argument. - basename This function returns the basename of the string argument passed to it. It takes one argument. - ctime This function may be used to determine the last-change-time of an inode. It takes one argument. - execute This function may be used to execute a command. The arguments are assembled into the command to be executed. Use the special “{}” argument to insert the name of the current file. The function returns true of the command's exist status is zero. All following arguments to find are taken to be arguments to the command until an argument consisting of \`;' is encountered. The command is executed in the starting directory. - gid This function may be used to determine the gid of a file. It takes one argument. - inode This function may be used to determine the inode number of a file. It takes one argument. - mode This function may be used to determine the access mode (permissions) of a file. It takes one argument. - mtime This function may be used to determine the last-modified-time of a file. It takes one argument. - print This function may be used to print a value. It takes one argument. Always returns true. - size This function may be used to determine the size in bytes of a file. It takes one argument. - type This function may be used to determine the type of a file. It takes one argument. It returns a string: "block\_special", "character\_special", "directory", "file", "named\_pipe", "socket" or "symbolic\_link". - uid This function may be used to determine the uid of a file. It takes one argument. ### TESTS Most tests exist to provide compatibility with [*find*(1)](/find/1.md). - **-Access\_Minutes** \[ *relative-operator* \] *number* True if the current file was accessed exactly *number* minutes ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - atime ( {+} )) / 60 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Access\_Time** \[ *relative-operator* \] *number* True if the current file was accessed exactly *number* days ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - atime ( {+} )) / 86400 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Change\_Minutes** *number* True if the current file's inode was changed exactly *number* minutes ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - ctime ( {+} )) / 60 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Change\_Time** *number* True if the current file's inode was changed exactly *number* days ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - ctime ( {+} )) / 86400 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Modify\_Minutes** *number* True if the current file was modified exactly *number* minutes ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - mtime ( {+} )) / 60 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Modify\_Time** *number* True if the current file was modified exactly *number* days ago, false otherwise. If a relative operator is given (\<, \<=, ==, !=, \> or \>=) a relative comparison will be made, rather than the implicit equality test. This is *not* identical to the similar [*find*(1)](/find/1.md) test. This is shorthand for the “( now - mtime ( {+} )) / 86400 *relative-operator* *number*” expression. - **-Newer** *filename* True if the current file was modified after the given file. This is shorthand for the “mtime ( {+} ) \> mtime ( *filename* )” expression. - **-Name** *pattern* Base of file name (the path with the leading directories removed) matches shell pattern *pattern*. This is short-hand for the “*pattern* ~ basename ( {} )” expression. - **-PAth** *pattern* File name matches shell pattern *pattern*. Note that the file name if affected by the **-resolve** option. This is short-hand for the “*pattern* ~ {}” expression. - **-Type** *string* The file type matches the type given. This is shorthand for the “type ( {} ) == *string*” expression. Type names are matched similar to options: | | | | --- | --- | | Block | The file is a block special file. | | Character | The file is a character special file. | | Directory | The file is a directory. | | File | The file is a normal file. | | Link | The file is a symbolic link. | | Pipe | The file is FIFO (a named pipe). | | Socket | The file is a UNIX domain socket. | ### ACTIONS - **-print** This will print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a newline. The **-Resolve** option will affect what is printed. This is short-hand for the “print ( {} )” expression. - **-execute** *string*... **;** The may be used to execute a command. This is short-hand for the “execute ( *string* **:** ... )” expression. ## EXIT STATUS The *aefind* command will exit with a status of 1 on any error. The *aefind* command will only exit with a status of 0 if there are no errors. ## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES See [*aegis*(1)](/aegis/1.md) for a list of environment variables which may affect this command. See [*aepconf*(5)](/aepconf/5.md) for the project configuration file's *project\_specific* field for how to set environment variables for all commands executed by Aegis.\ ## COPYRIGHT aefind version 4.24.3.D001\ Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Peter Miller The aefind program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use the '*aefind -VERSion License*' command. This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; for details use the '*aefind -VERSion License*' command.\ ## AUTHOR | | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Peter Miller | E-Mail: | millerp@canb.auug.org.au | | `/\/\*` | WWW: | http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~millerp/ |