How To Search For A File

minivy · 11-29-2011, 11:58 AM

Hi Linux fans,

My code includes the following files but I was not abled to locate them. If you know how to locate/search these files, please help.

#include <asm/ptrace.h>
#include <trace/events/irq.h>

Thanks in advance...

thesnow · 11-29-2011, 12:24 PM

Are you asking if they exist on your system, but are not in the specified path? You can use mlocate to find files by name, e.g. "mlocate ptrace.h" (may want to run "updatedb" first).

tronayne · 11-29-2011, 12:29 PM

There are a couple of ways: user locate or use the find utility.

locate will "locate" all instances of a given file name (or part of a given file name); e.g.,

Code:

locate ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/parisc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/powerpc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/tile/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/arm/kernel/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/arm/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-i386/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-i386/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-i386/shared/sysdep/skas_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ppc/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ppc/shared/sysdep/skas_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/include/shared/skas_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-x86_64/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-x86_64/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-x86_64/shared/sysdep/skas_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ia64/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ia64/sysdep/skas_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/microblaze/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/avr32/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/blackfin/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/frv/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/score/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/x86/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/h8300/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/sh/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/m68k/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/ia64/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/m32r/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/xtensa/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/mn10300/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/arch-v10/arch/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/arch-v32/arch/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/alpha/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/mips/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/sparc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/s390/kernel/compat_ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/s390/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/include/linux/ptrace.h
/usr/doc/ntp-4.2.6p3/html/ntptrace.html
/usr/include/linux/ptrace.h
/usr/include/sys/ptrace.h
/usr/include/asm-x86/ptrace.h

That's a lot of stuff to wade through, but it can be handy. Before you can use the locate utility, you need to build the data base that's used by locate:

Code:

su -            or sudo
slocate -u

See the slocate manual page for details.

The find utility, on the other hand, is generally more useful for finding individual files; e.g.,

Code:

find / -type f -name 'ptrace.h' 2>/dev/null
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/parisc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/powerpc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/tile/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/arm/kernel/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/arm/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-i386/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-i386/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ppc/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-x86_64/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-x86_64/shared/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/um/sys-ia64/sysdep/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/microblaze/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/avr32/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/blackfin/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/frv/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/score/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/x86/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/h8300/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/sh/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/m68k/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/ia64/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/m32r/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/xtensa/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/mn10300/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/arch-v10/arch/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/cris/include/arch-v32/arch/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/alpha/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/mips/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/sparc/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/arch/s390/include/asm/ptrace.h
/usr/src/linux-2.6.37.6/include/linux/ptrace.h
/usr/include/linux/ptrace.h
/usr/include/sys/ptrace.h
/usr/include/asm-x86/ptrace.h

Also a lot of stuff (the ones you want are at the bottom of this list).

Here's a hint: system header files will be somewhere in an include directory, almost always a subdirectory of /usr -- so when you're looking for a file included in a C program that's enclosed in <name.h>, it'll most likely be found looking in /usr:

Code:

find /usr -name 'ptrace.h'

Too, the reason for including the 2>/dev/null is that, as a user; i.e., not root, you will not be able to access certain directories or files and you'll get a lot of error message and what 2>/dev/null does is so you don't see the "can't access blah" messages.

Hope this helps some.