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From: ndd@sunbar.mc.duke.edu (Ned Danieley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Setting the record straight on SunOS 4.0 'fastfind'
Message-ID: <8812161559.AA09132@sunbar.mc.duke.edu>
Date: 29 Dec 88 20:54:17 GMT
Sender: usenet@rice.edu
Organization: Sun-Spots
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Approved: Sun-Spots@rice.edu
Original-Date: Fri, 16 Dec 88 10:59:32 EST
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 77, message 4 of 14

(To the theme from "The Twilight Zone") Do de do do, do de do do.

It turns out that, at least under 3.5 [[ as early as 3.2, actually
--wnl ]], 'find' allowed (but Sun did not document) the 4.3 behaviour of

find filename

which depends on running /usr/lib/find/updatedb periodically; this sets up
a database of names, allowing 'find' to work VERY quickly. I found this
about a year ago, and told Sun; I think it even made it into an STB. Note
that /usr/lib/find exists under 4.0, but that the man page still doesn't
mention it, and that

find filename

only works as

find '*filename*'

As jbm says, Sun knows about it, and has acknowledged that it is a bug. It
seems to work under Sys4-3.2, so you probably could get 'find' from that
release and have it work.

Ned Danieley (ndd@sunbar.mc.duke.edu)
Basic Arrhythmia Laboratory
Box 3140, Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC  27710
(919) 684-6807 or 684-6942