Ubuntu Manpage: aefind - 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) 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) for the
corresponding user preference.

-Change number
This option may be used to specify a particular change within a project. See
aegis(1) 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) 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 aegis(1) for options common to all aegis 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) 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).

-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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) for a list of environment variables which may affect this command.  See
        aepconf(5) 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/