bfs
Features   •   Installation   •   Usage   •   Building   •   Hacking   •   Changelog
bfs is a variant of the UNIX find command that operates breadth-first rather than depth-first.
It is otherwise compatible with many versions of find, including
POSIX   •   GNU   •   FreeBSD   •   OpenBSD   •   NetBSD   •   macOS
If you're not familiar with find, the GNU find manual provides a good introduction.
Features
bfs operates breadth-first, which typically finds the file(s) you're looking for faster.
Imagine the following directory tree:
haystack
├── deep
│ └── 1
│ └── 2
│ └── 3
│ └── 4
│ └── ...
└── shallow
└── needle
find will explore the entire deep directory tree before it ever gets to the shallow one that contains what you're looking for.
On the other hand, bfs lists files from shallowest to deepest, so you never have to wait for it to explore an entire unrelated subtree.
bfs | find |
|---|---|
$ find haystack
haystack
haystack/deep
haystack/deep/1
haystack/deep/1/2
haystack/deep/1/2/3
haystack/deep/1/2/3/4
...
haystack/shallow
haystack/shallow/needle |
$ bfs haystack
haystack
haystack/deep
haystack/shallow
haystack/deep/1
haystack/shallow/needle
... |
bfs tries to be easier to use than find, while remaining compatible.
For example, bfs is less picky about where you put its arguments:
bfs | find |
|---|---|
$ bfs -L -name 'needle' haystack
haystack/needle
$ bfs haystack -L -name 'needle'
haystack/needle
$ bfs -L haystack -name 'needle'
haystack/needle |
$ find -L -name 'needle' haystack
find: paths must precede expression: haystack
$ find haystack -L -name 'needle'
find: unknown predicate `-L'
$ find -L haystack -name 'needle'
haystack/needle |
bfs gives helpful errors and warnings.
For example, bfs will detect and suggest corrections for typos:
$ bfs -nam needle
bfs: error: bfs -nam needle
bfs: error: ~~~~
bfs: error: Unknown argument; did you mean -name?bfs also includes a powerful static analysis to help catch mistakes:
$ bfs -print -name 'needle'
bfs: warning: bfs -print -name needle
bfs: warning: ~~~~~~~~~~~~
bfs: warning: The result of this expression is ignored.
bfs adds some options that make common tasks easier.
For example, the -exclude operator skips over entire subtrees whenever an expression matches.
-exclude is both more powerful and easier to use than the standard -prune action; compare
$ bfs -name config -exclude -name .git
to the equivalent
$ find ! \( -name .git -prune \) -name config
As an additional shorthand, -nohidden skips over all hidden files and directories.
See the usage documentation for more about the extensions provided by bfs.
Installation
bfs may already be packaged for your operating system.
Alpine Linux # apk add bfs Arch Linux (Available in the AUR) Debian/Ubuntu # apt install bfs Fedora Linux # dnf install bfs NixOS # nix-env -i bfs Void Linux # xbps-install -S bfs FreeBSD # pkg install bfs MacPorts # port install bfs Homebrew $ brew install tavianator/tap/bfs
To build bfs from source, you may need to install some dependencies.
The only absolute requirements for building bfs are a C compiler, GNU make, and Bash.
These are installed by default on many systems, and easy to install on most others.
Refer to your operating system's documentation on building software.
bfs also depends on some system libraries for some of its features.
Here's how to install them on some common platforms:
Alpine Linux
# apk add acl{,-dev} attr{,-dev} libcap{,-dev} oniguruma-dev
Arch Linux
# pacman -S acl attr libcap oniguruma
Debian/Ubuntu
# apt install acl libacl1-dev attr libattr1-dev libcap2-bin libcap-dev libonig-dev
Fedora
# dnf install acl libacl-devel libattr-devel libcap-devel oniguruma-devel
NixOS
# nix-env -i acl attr libcap oniguruma
Void Linux
# xbps-install -S acl-{devel,progs} attr-{devel,progs} libcap-{devel,progs} oniguruma-devel
FreeBSD
# pkg install oniguruma
MacPorts
# port install oniguruma6
Homebrew
$ brew install oniguruma
These dependencies are technically optional, though strongly recommended. See the build documentation for how to disable them.
Once you have the dependencies, you can build bfs.
Download one of the releases or clone the git repo. Then run
$ make
This will build the ./bin/bfs binary.
Run the test suite to make sure it works correctly:
$ make check
If you're interested in speed, you may want to build the release version instead:
$ make release
Finally, if you want to install it globally, run
# make install