What is the tool that allows me to specify arbitrary directories using **

Question

I once saw a colleague uses a tool which allows to use ** to represent any directories. For example: if a file called myfile.java sits deep inside:

src/main/com/mycompany/product/store/myfile.java

A command in the parent of src directory:

ls **/myfile.java

can list the file.

Can anyone tell me what tool it is? What package I need to use on Ubuntu to achieve this?

I think it is a dirty shellhack, dots always need special treatment when they are in a specific role. — vakufo, Mar 12 '12 at 18:47
Hi. Sorry. I made a mistake. It is not ... but **. I have changed the original post. — Kevin Zhang, Mar 12 '12 at 19:13

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 01 '19 at 17:37

8

In bash ≥4.0, turn on the globstar option.

$ shopt -s globstar
$ echo pylib/**/pyerector.py
pylib/pyerector.py pylib/pyerector/pyerector.py

You can read more about it in the manpage.

In zsh, this is available out of the box.

In ksh93, activate it with set -o globstar.

In plain sh or bash ≤3.x, this is not available.

edited Oct 01 '19 at 17:37

answered Mar 12 '12 at 19:04

Arcege

1 Answers1