computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, find is a

command Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * command (Unix), a Unix command * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on A ...

in the

command-line interpreter A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user-friendly alternativ ...

s ( shells) of a number of

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

s. It is used to search for a specific text string in a file or files. The command sends the specified lines to the

standard output Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object t ...

device.

Overview

The find command is a filter to find lines in the input data stream that contain or don't contain a specified string and send these to the output data stream. It does not support

wildcard character In software, a wildcard character is a kind of placeholder represented by a single character (computing), character, such as an asterisk (), which can be interpreted as a number of literal characters or an empty string. It is often used in file ...

s. The command is available in

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser ...

FlexOS FlexOS is a discontinued modular real-time multiuser multitasking operating system ( RTOS) designed for computer-integrated manufacturing, laboratory, retail and financial markets. Developed by Digital Research's Flexible Automation Business ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

4690 OS 4690 Operating System (sometimes shortened to 4690 OS or 4690) is a specially designed point of sale (POS) operating system, originally sold by IBM. In 2012, IBM sold its retail business, including this product, to Toshiba, which assumed support. ...

, IBM

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, and

ReactOS ReactOS is a Free and open-source software, free and open-source operating system for i586/amd64 personal computers that is intended to be binary-code compatibility, binary-compatible with computer programs and device drivers developed for Wind ...

. On

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

, the command is available in versions 2 and later. DR DOS 6.0DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips
/ref> and

Datalight Datalight was a privately held software company specializing in power failsafe and high performance software for preserving data integrity in embedded systems. The company was founded in 1983 by Roy Sherrill, and its headquarters is in Bothell, W ...

ROM-DOS Datalight was a privately held software company specializing in power failsafe and high performance software for preserving data integrity in embedded systems. The company was founded in 1983 by Roy Sherrill, and its headquarters is in Bothell, ...

include an implementation of the command. The

FreeDOS FreeDOS (formerly PD-DOS) is a free software operating system for IBM PC compatible computers. It intends to provide a complete MS-DOS-compatible environment for running Legacy system, legacy software and supporting embedded systems. FreeDOS ca ...

version was developed by Jim Hall and is licensed under the GPL. The

Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

command find performs an entirely different function, analogous to forfiles on Windows. The rough equivalent to the Windows find is the Unix

grep 


grep is a  command-line utility for searching plaintext datasets for lines that match a regular expression. Its name comes from the  ed command g/re/p (global regular expression search and print), which has the same effect. grep was originally de ...

Syntax

FIND V C N I"string" drive:path]filename .. Arguments: *"string" This

command-line argument A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

specifies the text string to find. * rive:path]filename Specifies a file or files in which to search the specified string. Flags: */V Displays all lines NOT containing the specified string. */C Displays only the count of lines containing the string. */N Displays line numbers with the displayed lines. */I Ignores the case of characters when searching for the string. Note: If a pathname is not specified, FIND searches the text typed at the prompt or piped from another command.

Examples

C:\>find "keyword" < inputfilename > outputfilename C:\>find /V "any string" FileName

References

External links

Open source FIND implementation that comes with MS-DOS v2.0
{{Windows commands External DOS commands Microcomputer software Microsoft free software OS/2 commands ReactOS commands Pattern matching Windows administration

Overview

Syntax

Examples

See also

References

Further reading

External links