MacOS – Find readable with Permissions as POSIX

command linemacosunix

Aimed systems: Linux and OS X. Original code which works in Ubuntu 16.04 but not OS X, but follows unsuccessfully POSIX standards 

gfind ~ ! -readable -prune -o -type f -name "*.tex"

where

  • ! is about Negation of a primary; the unary NOT operator.
  • -readable TODO this does not seem to be POSIX
  • -prune is about The primary shall always evaluate as true; it shall cause find not to descend the current pathname if it is a directory. If the -depth primary is specified, the -prune primary shall have no effect.
  • -o is about Alternation of primaries; the OR operator. The second expression shall not be evaluated if the first expression is true. That is if not, then this.
  • -type about type, here file f
  • -name about filename, here *.tex

Output

gfind: paths must precede expression: type
Usage: gfind [-H] [-L] [-P] [-Olevel] [-D help|tree|search|stat|rates|opt|exec] [path...] [expression]

Fix proposal

Use -perm 0744 instead of -readable but not sure if it is equivalent

gfind ~ ! -perm 0744 -prune -o -type f -name "*.tex"

Output: /Users/masi. Expected output: list of .tex files.

How can you set permissions of find correctly for readable?

Best Answer

The double negation at the beginning makes this rather complex. Just using

gfind . -readable -type f -name '*.tex'

should work.

PS: Or find . -perm +0666 -type f -name '*.tex' for the default find.

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