


LOCATE(1L)					     LOCATE(1L)


NNAAMMEE
       locate - list files in databases that match a pattern

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       llooccaattee [-d path] [--database=path] pattern...

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       This manual page documents the GNU version of llooccaattee.  For
       each given pattern, llooccaattee searches one or more	databases
       of  file pathnames and displays the pathnames that contain
       the pattern.  Patterns can contain shell-style metacharac-
       ters: `*', `?', and `[]'.  The metacharacters do not treat
       `/' or `.'  specially.  Patterns that contain  metacharac-
       ters  should  be	quoted to protect them from expansion by
       the shell.

       If a pattern is a plain string -- it contains no metachar-
       acters  --  llooccaattee  displays all pathnames in the database
       that contain that string anywhere.  If a pattern does con-
       tain metacharacters, it only displays pathnames that match
       the pattern exactly.  As a result, patterns  that  contain
       metacharacters  should  usually begin with a `*', and will
       most often end with one as well.	The exceptions are  pat-
       terns  that are intended to explicitly match the beginning
       or end of a pathname.

       The filename databases contain lists  of	the  files  that
       were on the system whenever the database was last updated.
       The pathname of the default database, the  frequency  with
       which it is updated, and the directories for which it con-
       tains entries are configurable by the  system  administra-
       tor.

       llooccaattee  supports	having	multiple filename databases; for
       example, there could be one on each filesystem.	You  can
       tell llooccaattee to use alternate filename databases instead of
       the default  one	by  giving  a	colon-separated	list  of
       database	pathnames  as	either	an  argument to the _-_d or
       _-_-_d_a_t_a_b_a_s_e options or as	the  value  of	the  environment
       variable	LLOOCCAATTEE__PPAATTHH.	The option overrides the environ-
       ment variable if both are used.
















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