ls command behavior

day4night · 01-23-2004, 09:42 PM

Hi,

How do I search for files more then one level below my current dir? For example by typing:

ls */*.mp3 I will see all mp3s one directory below my current dir. What I will not see is any mp3s more then one level below the current dir.

I've tried working the -R option (recurse dirs), but haven't been able to make it work. That is:

ls -R /*.mp3 or ls -R */*.mp3 or ls -R *.mp3 doesn't seem to work.

Any thoughts?

day4night

looseCannon · 01-23-2004, 10:04 PM

Check the output again. This confused me at first, but it IS listing it recursively. The output doesn't include the full path in the name of the file. It's listing the path in the output just before the list of files in the directory that match your criteria.

In my home directory 'ls -R *mp3 gave back some output like:

mp3:
02 Your Wall.mp3
04 Seven.mp3
05 Goodbye Again.mp3

mp3/blue_october:
Blue October- Calling You.mp3 Blue October - Razorblade.mp3
Blue October - Inner Glow.mp3 Blue October - Ugly side.mp3

pzatch · 01-23-2004, 11:00 PM

try typing in

ls /
this gives you a root directory output.

ls /user/
gives a user directory output.

ls /home/

gives the /home directory output.

day4night · 01-24-2004, 06:55 AM

thanks for the help. using 'ls -R *mp3' does what I wanted. I was using 'ls -R *.mp3' and it was not working. I guess the '.' was tripping it up. Oddly enough using a command like 'ls */*.mp3' doesn't mind the '.', but then again that command won't recurse through all subdirs.

day4night

nightjar · 01-24-2004, 08:13 AM

You can type
ls --help
and watch the all options that the commmand have

MrPotatoHead · 01-24-2004, 08:25 AM

I think the find command will help you more in this.

If you want to find all mp3 lets say under /home you can use

find /home -name *.mp3

MrP

thedong · 01-24-2004, 11:56 PM

i use the find cmd as well and then pipe it to grep, ie:
find . | grep mp3

Tinkster · 01-25-2004, 12:57 AM

Why not
find -iname *.mp3
?

Cheers,
Tink