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From: tsclark@ihnp4.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: -depth option for find(1)
Message-ID: <415@ihnp4.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Aug-83 11:50:28 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihnp4.415
Posted: Tue Aug 16 11:50:28 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 17-Aug-83 03:44:33 EDT
References: <352@hou5f.UUCP>, <440@spanky.UUCP>
Organization: BTL Naperville, Il.
Lines: 31

Ok...here's what "find -depth" REALLY does, and why it is a good thing:

Normally, if you use find on a directory tree, it prints the name of the
directory followed by the contents of that directory (recursively). That
is, it prints as it goes down the tree. For example:
top
top/second
top/second/third
top/second/file
top/file
etc.

This is good if you are copying files since you would like the directory
created before you try to put anything in it.

What the -depth option does is list the contents of the directory first,
and then later give the name of the directory, such as:
top/second/third
top/second/file
top/second
top/file
top

This is good if you don't want to change the directory until you've changed
everything inside it. For instance:

	find . -depth -exec rm {} \;   (same as rm -r .)
	find . -depth -exec chown otheruser {} \;

I know it's not documented in the System V manual -- I submitted an MR on this
and it will be documented in the next issue (I believe).