In the Linux environment, we have access to a range of powerful tools that allow us to effectively manage and search for files and directories. In this article, I will focus on two exemplary commands that enable us to find directories with a specific name and search files for a particular pattern.

1. Searching for directories with a specific name

To find all directories named „text” in the current directory and all its subdirectories, we can use the find command:

find . -type d -name 'text'

Let’s break down this command:

• find is the basic tool for searching files and directories in the system.
• . indicates the current directory. This is where the search will begin.
• -type d limits the search to directories (d stands for directory).
• -name 'text' specifies that we’re looking for directories named „text”.

2. Searching files based on a pattern in their content

To search files in the current directory and all its subdirectories for lines starting with the word „text”, we can use the grep command:

grep -rni -E '^text' .

The individual elements of this command are:

• grep is a text-searching tool.
• -r (or --recursive) allows for searching all files in the current directory and subdirectories.
• -n displays the line number where a match is found.
• -i makes the search case-insensitive.
• -E enables the use of extended regular expressions.
• ^text is a regular expression that matches lines starting with the word „text”.
• . indicates the current directory as the starting point for the search.

I hope the above commands will become a handy tool in your daily work with Linux. They offer quick and effective file and directory management, and their capabilities go far beyond what’s shown in this article. I encourage you to experiment and explore other options these tools provide!

More useful commands: https://github.com/PBujakiewicz/linux-cheat-sheet/tree/main