g.findfile <main>     GRASS Reference Manual	<main> g.findfile



NAME
     g.findfile	 - Searches for GRASS data base files and sets
     variables for the shell.
     (GRASS File Management Program)

SYNOPSIS
     g.findfile
     g.findfile help
     g.findfile element=name [mapset=name] file=name

DESCRIPTION
     g.findfile is designed for Bourne shell scripts that need to
     search for raster map layer files, vector files, site list
     files, geographic region definition (windows) files, and
     imagery group files in the GRASS data base.  If the user
     runs g.findfile without command line arguments, he will be
     prompted for the names of a GRASS element, file, and mapset,
     through the standard parser interface (see manual entry for
     parser).

     Parameters:

     element=name      The data base element (i.e., directory
		       within a GRASS mapset) to be searched.

     mapset=name       The mapset in which to search for the
		       specified file name.  If not specified,
		       all mapsets in the user's GRASS search
		       path are searched.  Otherwise, the
		       specified mapset is searched.  As a
		       convenience, if specified as a single dot
		       (.) only the current mapset is searched.

     file=name	       The name of a GRASS data file (of the
		       stated element type) for which to search.

OUTPUT
     g.findfile writes four lines to standard output:

	  name='file_name'
	  mapset='mapset_name'
	  file='unix_filename'
	  fullname='grass_fullname'

     The output is /bin/sh commands to set the variable name to
     the GRASS data base file name, mapset to the mapset in which
     the file resides, and file to the full UNIX path name for
     the named file.  These variables may be set in the /bin/sh
     as follows:

	  eval `g.findfile element=name mapset=name name=name`




GRASS 5.0beta6	      GRASS Development Team			1






g.findfile <main>     GRASS Reference Manual	<main> g.findfile



NOTES
     If the specified file does not exist, the variables will be
     set as follows:
	  name=
	  mapset=
	  fullname=
	  file=

     The following is a way to test for this case:

	  if [ ! "$file" ]
	  then
	       exit
	  fi

SEE ALSO
     g.ask, g.filename, g.gisenv, g.mapsets, and parser

AUTHOR
     Michael Shapiro, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research
     Laboratory


































2		      GRASS Development Team	   GRASS 5.0beta6