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Maxdepth option of find command not working

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# 1  
Old 04-21-2015
Bug Maxdepth option of find command not working
Can you please figure out what is the issue here

Code:
$ find . -maxdepth  1 -type f -size 0 -print
find: bad option -maxdepth


please find the OS details
Code:
$ uname -a
HP-UX g5u1216 B.11.31 U ia64 2614088426 unlimited-user license

Moderator's Comments:
Mod Comment Use code tags, thanks.
Last edited by zaxxon; 04-21-2015 at 11:48 AM..
# 2  
Old 04-21-2015
maxdepth is a GNU-ism, try -depth instead.

As far as I can tell POSIX compliance for find does not support -maxdepth or -mindepth as arguments to the find command.

find
# 3  
Old 04-21-2015
The find -depth primary produces a post-order walk of the file hierarchy instead of the default pre-order walk; it has no effect on how deep find goes as it walks the hierarchy. To get what TomG requested, just using standard find primaries, try:
Code:
find . \( -type d ! -name . -prune \) -o \( -type f -size 0 -print \)

or if the name of the directory being searched was specified by a variable:
Code:
find "$dir" \( -type d ! -name "$dir" -prune \) -o \( -type f -size 0 -print \)

This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
TomG
# 4  
Old 04-23-2015
You can skip -type d before the ! -name . -prune.
(And then it becomes clear you don't need the brackets.)
Just seeing you must switch the order, too:
Code:
find . -type f -size 0 -print -o ! -name . -prune

Last edited by MadeInGermany; 04-24-2015 at 11:47 AM.. Reason: switch order
# 5  
Old 04-24-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Cragun
The find -depth primary produces a post-order walk of the file hierarchy instead of the default pre-order walk; it has no effect on how deep find goes as it walks the hierarchy. To get what TomG requested, just using standard find primaries, try:
Code:
find . \( -type d ! -name . -prune \) -o \( -type f -size 0 -print \)

or if the name of the directory being searched was specified by a variable:
Code:
find "$dir" \( -type d ! -name "$dir" -prune \) -o \( -type f -size 0 -print \)


Hi Don,

Can you please tell me why -o is used. I am confused,because both conditions in the brackets have to be satisfied right. So can we use an 'and' condition.

Thank You
# 6  
Old 04-24-2015
From the (Linux) man page:
Quote:
the -prune action itself returns true, so the following -o ensures that the right hand side is evaluated only for those directories which didn't get pruned
This User Gave Thanks to CarloM For This Post:
TomG
# 7  
Old 04-24-2015
Quote:
Originally Posted by TomG
Hi Don,

Can you please tell me why -o is used. I am confused,because both conditions in the brackets have to be satisfied right. So can we use an 'and' condition.

Thank You
I have a general pattern that I remember that works for lots of cases. Your problem is simpler than many and in this specific case, I should have given you the much simpler command:
Code:
find . ! -name . -prune -type f -size 0

or:
Code:
find "$dir" ! -name "$dir" -prune -type f -size 0

This User Gave Thanks to Don Cragun For This Post:
TomG
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