How to use locate in cygwin?

Question

I'm trying to use locate to find files, but I'm not getting anything back from the program. It can't even find files that are in the current directory. How do I make locate work?

Answer 1

In essence, you have to run updatedb first, as this builds the database that locate uses.
Simply do updatedb --localpaths=c:/ as a first shot solution.

See this blog post for a bunch of good tips, including how to setup up updatedb via cygwin cron: https://web.archive.org/web/20061114000822/www.weiqigao.com/blog/2006/08/14/ten_steps_to_higher_cygwin_productivity.html (updated link to archive.org)

Google cygwin updatedb for a relevant post if you are having trouble with paths that include spaces. I am not getting any trouble (other than permission denied) on WinXP Pro, but other platforms may require this.

Answer 2

To use locate you need to run updatedb first.

Answer 3

I think the command you want is find

Do man find to see the syntax and options

The locate command runs against a pre-built database of filenames