mdfind(1)                 BSD General Commands Manual                mdfind(1)

NAME
     mdfind -- finds files matching a given query

SYNOPSIS
     mdfind [-live] [-onlyin directory] query

DESCRIPTION
     The mdfind command consults the central metadata store and returns a list
     of files that match the given metadata query. The query can be a string
     or a query expression.

     The following options are available:

     -00          Prints an ASCI NUL character after each result path.  This
                 is useful when used in conjunction with xargs -0.

     -live       Causes the mdfind command to provide live-updates to the num-
                 ber of files matching the query.  When an update causes the
                 query results to change the number of matches is updated.
                 The find can be cancelled by typing ctrl-C.

     -onlyin dir
                 Limit the scope of the search to the directory specified.

EXAMPLES
     The following examples are shown as given to the shell.

     This returns all files with any metadata attribute value matching the
     string "image":

           mdfind image

     This returns all files that contain "MyFavoriteAuthor" in the kMDItemAu-
     thor metadata attribute:

           mdfind "kMDItemAuthor == '*MyFavoriteAuthor*'"

     This returns all files with any metadata attribute value matching the
     string "skateboard".  The find continues to run after gathering the ini-
     tial results, providing a count of the number of files that match the
     query.

           mdfind -live skateboard

SEE ALSO
     mdcheckschema(1), mdimport(1), mdls(1), mdutil(1), xargs(1)

Mac OS X                         June 10, 2004                        Mac OS X