# Lazy find
by Klaatu

Here's the scenario: I download some source code or a bundle of art assets or a game from the Internet, it gets downloaded to my **~/Downloads** directory, and then I navigate to the Downloads folder and promptly forget the file name.
It's not that I don't remember what I downloaded, it's the proliferation of file types that throws me off.
Was it a [tarball](https://opensource.com/article/17/7/how-unzip-targz-file) or a ZIP file?
What was the version number?
Had I already downloaded a copy before?
In short, there are too many variables for me to confidently issue a command without listing the contents of **~/Downloads** and grepping for some substring of the filename.

To make this process easy for myself, I keep a command I call **lf** in my **~/bin** directory.
It's a simple front-end to the popular **find** or **locate** command, but with less typing and far less functionality.

To find a file located in the current directory, containing the string *foo* in its filename:

```
$ lf foo
```

To find a file located in some other directory, containing the string *foo* in its filename:

```
$ lf --path ~/path/to/dir foo
```

It's purely a lazy tool, and as I am very lazy, it's one I use frequently.

```
#!/bin/sh
# lazy find

# GNU All-Permissive License
# Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
# are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
# notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered as-is,
# without any warranty.

## help function

function helpu {
    echo " "
    echo "Fuzzy search for filename."
    echo "$0 [--match-case|--path] filename"
    echo " "
    exit
}

## set variables

MATCH="-iname"
PATH="."

## parse options

while [ True ]; do
if [ "$1" = "--help" -o "$1" = "-h" ]; then
    helpu
elif [ "$1" = "--match-case" -o "$1" = "-m" ]; then
    MATCH="-name"
    shift 1
elif [ "$1" = "--path" -o "$1" = "-p" ]; then
    PATH="${2}"
    shift 2
else
    break
fi
done

## sanitize input filenames
## create array, retain spaces

ARG=( "${@}" ) 
set -e

## catch obvious input error

if [ "X$ARG" = "X" ]; then
    helpu
fi

## perform search

for query in ${ARG[*]}; do
    /usr/bin/find "${PATH}" "${MATCH}" "*${ARG}*"
done
```