How to search directories to find or list files

The backslash in the above command is a globbing character, which provides a way of expanding wildcard characters in a non-specific file name into a set of specific filenames. A wildcard is a symbol that can be replaced by one or more characters when the expression is evaluated. The most common wildcard symbols are the question mark?

The mlocate command is a new implementation of locate. It indexes the entire file system, but the search results only include files to which the current user has access.

When you update the mlocate database, it keeps timestamp information in the database. This allows mlocate to know if the contents of a directory changed without reading the contents again and makes updates to the database faster and less demanding on your hard drive.

NOTE: We will show you a command later in this article that allows you to determine where the executable for a command is located, if it exists. The mlocate command does not use the same database file as the standard locate command. Therefore, you may want to create the database manually by typing the following command at the prompt:.

The mlocate command will not work until the database is created either manually or when the script is run from cron. For more information about either the locate or the mlocate command, type man locate or man mlocate in a Terminal window and press Enter.

The same help screen displays for both commands. This is useful in finding the location of an executable for creating a shortcut to the program on the desktop, on a panel, or other place in the desktop manager.

For example, typing the command which firefox displays the results shown in the image below. By default, the which command only displays the first matching executable. To display all matching executables, use the -a option with the command:.

You can search for multiple executables using at once, as shown in the following image. Only the paths to executables found are displayed. If you search for an executable that is only available for the root user as a normal user, no results will display. The whereis command is used to find out where the binary, source, and man page files for a command are located.

For example, typing whereis firefox at the prompt displays results as shown in the following image. If you want only the path to the executable to display, and not the paths to the source and the man ual pages, use the -b option.

You can also search for only the source files -s or for only the man pages -m. For more information about the whereis command, type man whereis in a Terminal window and press Enter. The whereis command shows you the location for the binary, source, and man pages for a command, whereas the which command only shows you the location of the binary for the command. For the whereis command, the list of specific directories can be found in the FILES section of the man pages for the command.

When it comes to results displayed by default, the whereis command displays everything it finds whereas the which command only displays the first executable it finds. You can change that using the -a option, discussed earlier, for the which command. Because the whereis command only uses paths hard-coded into the command, you may not always find what you are looking for. If you are searching for a program you think might be installed in a directory not listed in the man pages for the whereis command, you might want to use the which command with the -a option to find all occurrences of the command throughout the system.

Use Google Fonts in Word. Use FaceTime on Android Signal vs. Note that each Directory element returned counts toward the maximum result, just as each File element does. Files and directories are listed intermingled in lexically sorted order in the response body. Listing is limited to a single level of the directory hierarchy. In order to list multiple levels, you can make multiple calls in an iterative manner by using the Directory value returned from one result in a subsequent call to List Directories and Files.

Skip to main content. This browser is no longer supported. Download Microsoft Edge More info. Contents Exit focus mode. Is this page helpful? Please rate your experience Yes No. Any additional feedback? In this article. Version and newer. Filters the results to return only files and directories whose name begins with the specified prefix.

The share snapshot parameter is an opaque DateTime value that, when present, specifies the share snapshot to query for the list of files and directories. A string value that identifies the portion of the list to be returned with the next list operation. The operation returns a marker value within the response body if the list returned was not complete. The marker value may then be used in a subsequent call to request the next set of list items.

The marker value is opaque to the client. Was this reply helpful? Yes No. Sorry this didn't help. Thanks for your feedback. You will be able to search with only one search string at a time. I have a huge collection of MP3s. I want these files to come up in a search folder.

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