g.findfile(1)

NAME
g.findfile - Searches for GRASS data base files and sets variables for the shell.

KEYWORDS
general, map management, scripts

SYNOPSIS
g.findfile
g.findfile --help
g.findfile [-nlt] element=string file=string [mapset=string] format=name [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

  Flags:

-n
    Do not add quotes
    Ignored when format is set to JSON

-l
    List available elements and exit

-t
    Return code 0 when file found, 1 otherwise
    Behave like the test utility, 0 for true, 1 for false, no output

--help
    Print usage summary

--verbose
    Verbose module output

--quiet
    Quiet module output

--ui
    Force launching GUI dialog

  Parameters:

element=string [required]
    Name of an element

file=string [required]
    Name of an existing map

mapset=string
    Name of a mapset (default: search path)
    ’.’ for current mapset

format=name [required]
    Output format
    Options: shell, json
    Default: shell
    shell: shell script style output
    json: JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

DESCRIPTION
g.findfile is designed for Bourne shell or Python scripts that need to search for mapset elements, including: raster, vector maps, region definitions and imagery groups.

The list of element names to search for is not fixed; any subdirectory of the mapset directory is a valid element name.

However, the user can find the list of standard GRASS element names in the file $GISBASE/etc/element_list. This is the file which g.remove, g.rename and g.copy use to determine which files need to be deleted/renamed/copied for a given entity type.

NOTES
g.findfile writes four lines to standard output:

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

The output is Bash 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 Bash as follows:

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

EXAMPLES

  SHELL
Raster map example:

eval `g.findfile element=cell file=elevation`

If the specified file (here: raster map) 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 1
fi

Vector map example (including error message):

eval `g.findfile element=vector file="$G_OPT_V_INPUT"`
if [ ! "$file" ] ; then
   g.message -e "Vector map <$G_OPT_V_INPUT> not found"
   exit 1
fi

  PYTHON
See Python Scripting Library for more info.

Note: The Python tab in the wxGUI can be used for entering the following code:

import grass.script as gcore
gcore.find_file(’elevation’, element = ’cell’)

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

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

SOURCE CODE

Available at: g.findfile source code (history)

Latest change: Monday Nov 03 07:16:48 2025 in commit: c96796774942e46bbababcd652d3986d4e295665

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.5.1dev Reference Manual