[SOLVED] Can I use Regular Expression with command find

vp0619520 · 04-27-2012, 05:39 AM

Hi team,

I try this command below

Code:

find ./ -name "log\$"

,but I got nothing from it.I know I can use other command like

Code:

find ./ -name "*.log"

.Since I want to know if I can not use Regular Expression in the command "find" as using it in "grep".Thanks a lot.

anon237 · 04-27-2012, 05:42 AM

Hi,

Using the -regex you can:

Code:

find . -regex ".*.pdf$"

Hope this helps.

vp0619520 · 04-27-2012, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by druuna

Hi,

Using the -regex you can:

Code:

find . -regex ".*.pdf$"

Hope this helps.

Thanks very much!It is work!

anon237 · 04-27-2012, 06:25 AM

You're welcome

David the H. · 04-27-2012, 12:07 PM

Do be careful though. The standard -name/-iname options use globbing patterns, but only apply matches to the basename of the file. But the -regex options apply to the entire path. To quote the man page:

Code:

-regex pattern
	File name matches regular expression pattern.  This is a match
	on the whole path, not a search.  For example, to match a file
	named `./fubar3', you can use the regular expression `.*bar.' or
	`.*b.*3', but not `f.*r3'.  The regular expressions understood
	by find are by default Emacs Regular Expressions, but this can
	be changed with the -regextype option.

Check out the TESTS section of the find man page for more options.