Finding Long Unaccessed Files and Running Commands on Found Files

We all have old files on our systems and in our home directories that have not been accessed in a long time. To find files in a home directory that have not been accessed in the last 200 days, you would issue the following command:

 #  find . -atime +200 -print  ./hp/.Xdefaults ./hp/.bash_logout ./hp/.bash_profile ./hp/.bashrc ./hp/.kde/share/apps/kfm/desktop ./hp/.kde/share/config/desktop0rc ./hp/.kde/share/config/kcmdisplayrc ./hp/.kde/share/config/kfmrc ./hp/.kde/share/config/kpanelrc ./hp/.kde/share/config/kvtrc ./hp/.kderc ./hp/Desktop/.directory ./hp/Desktop/Printer.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Device.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Ftpurl.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/MimeType.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Program.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/URL.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/Templates/WWWUrl.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/cdrom.kdelnk ./hp/Desktop/floppy.kdelnk ./hp/.screenrc ./hp/.bash_history ./test/.Xdefaults ./test/.bash_logout ./test/.bash_profile ./test/.bashrc ./test/.kde/share/apps/kfm/desktop ./test/.kde/share/config/desktop0rc ./test/.kde/share/config/kcmdisplayrc ./test/.kde/share/config/kfmrc ./test/.kde/share/config/kpanelrc ./test/.kde/share/config/kvtrc ./test/.kderc ./test/Desktop/.directory ./test/Desktop/Printer.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/Device.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/Ftpurl.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/MimeType.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/Program.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/URL.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/Templates/WWWUrl.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/cdrom.kdelnk ./test/Desktop/floppy.kdelnk ./test/.screenrc ./test/linux1.xwd ./test/.bash_history # 

Several files were produced as a result of this search. I could run the same command and add to it an ls -l command so I could look at additional information on the file with the following command:

 #  find . -atime +200 -exec ls -l {} \;  -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp        1422 Aug 28   ./hp/.Xdefaults -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp          24 Aug 28   ./hp/.bash_logout -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         230 Aug 28   ./hp/.bash_profile -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         124 Aug 28   ./hp/.bashrc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         260 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/apps/kfm/desktop -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         234 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/config/desktop0rc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp          49 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/config/kcmdisplayrc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp          95 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/config/kfmrc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         456 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/config/kpanelrc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         255 Aug 28   ./hp/.kde/share/config/kvtrc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         966 Aug 28   ./hp/.kderc -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp          85 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/.directory -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         222 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Printer.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         607 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Device.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         296 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Ftpurl.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         324 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/MimeType.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         170 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/Program.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         411 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/URL.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         458 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/Templates/WWWUrl.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         376 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/cdrom.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 hp       hp         378 Aug 28   ./hp/Desktop/floppy.kdelnk -rw-rw-r--   1 hp       hp        3505 Aug 28   ./hp/.screenrc -rw-------   1 hp       hp          34 Aug 28   ./hp/.bash_history -rw-r--r--   1 test     test      1422 Aug 28   ./test/.Xdefaults -rw-r--r--   1 test     test        24 Aug 28   ./test/.bash_logout -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       230 Aug 28   ./test/.bash_profile -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       124 Aug 28   ./test/.bashrc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       260 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/apps/kfm/desktop -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       234 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/config/desktop0rc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test        49 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/config/kcmdisplayrc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test        95 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/config/kfmrc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       456 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/config/kpanelrc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       255 Aug 28   ./test/.kde/share/config/kvtrc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       966 Aug 28   ./test/.kderc -rw-r--r--   1 test     test        85 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/.directory -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       222 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Printer.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       607 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Templates/Device.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       296 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Templates/Ftpurl.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test    test       324 Aug 28  ./test/Desktop/Templates/MimeType.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       170 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Templates/Program.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       411 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Templates/URL.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       458 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/Templates/WWWUrl.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       376 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/cdrom.kdelnk -rw-r--r--   1 test     test       378 Aug 28   ./test/Desktop/floppy.kdelnk -rw-rw-r--   1 test     test      3505 Aug 28   ./test/.screenrc -rwxrwxrwx   1 root     root    614955 Aug 28   ./test/linux1.xwd -rw-------   1 test     test        13 Aug 28   ./test/.bash_history # 

This command produces the same output as the previous example and puts the output of find in the place where the curly brackets appear. The ls -l will use the filename produced by find , which is inside the curly brackets, as an argument. You follow the command with a semicolon so that the shell knows where the command ends, and you must use the backslash as an escape for the semicolon so that the find command recognizes the semicolon.