mlocate.db(5)		      File Formats Manual		 mlocate.db(5)



NAME
       mlocate.db - a mlocate database


DESCRIPTION
       A  mlocate database starts with a file header: 8 bytes for a magic num-
       ber ("\0mlocate" like a C literal), 4 bytes for the configuration block
       size  in big endian, 1 byte for file format version (0), 1 byte for the
       "require visibility" flag (0 or 1), 2 bytes padding, and	 a  NUL-termi-
       nated path name of the root of the database.

       The  header  is	followed  by a configuration block, included to ensure
       databases are not reused if some	 configuration	changes	 could	affect
       their contents.	The size of the configuration block in bytes is stored
       in the file header.  The configuration block is a sequence of  variable
       assignments,  ordered  by variable name.	 Each variable assignment con-
       sists of a NUL-terminated variable name and an ordered list of NUL-ter-
       minated	values.	  The value list is terminated by one more NUL charac-
       ter.  The ordering used is defined by the strcmp () function.

       Currently defined variables are:

       prune_bind_mounts
	      A single entry, the  value  of  PRUNE_BIND_MOUNTS;  one  of  the
	      strings 0 or 1.


       prunefs
	      The value of PRUNEFS, each entry is converted to uppercase.


       prunepaths
	      The value of PRUNEPATHS.


       The  rest  of  the  file until EOF describes directories and their con-
       tents.  Each directory starts with a header: 8 bytes for directory time
       (seconds)  in  big  endian, 4 bytes for directory time (nanoseconds) in
       big endian (0 if unknown, less than 1,000,000,000),  4  bytes  padding,
       and  a  NUL-terminated  path name of the the directory.	Directory con-
       tents, a sequence of file entries sorted by name, follow.

       Directory time is the maximum of st_ctime and st_mtime  of  the	direc-
       tory.   updatedb(8) uses the original data if the directory time in the
       database and in the file system match exactly.  Directory time equal to
       0  always causes rescanning of the directory: this is necessary to han-
       dle directories which were being updated while building the database.

       Each file entry starts with a single byte, marking its type:

       0      A non-directory file.  Followed by a  NUL-terminated  file  (not
	      path) name.


       1      A	 subdirectory.	 Followed  by a NUL-terminated file (not path)
	      name.


       2      Marks the end of the current directory.


       locate(1) only reports file entries, directory names are	 not  reported
       because	they  are reported as an entry in their parent directory.  The
       only exception is the root directory of the database, which  is	stored
       in the file header.


AUTHOR
       Miloslav Trmac <mitr@redhat.com>


SEE ALSO
       locate(1), updatedb.conf(5), updatedb(8)



mlocate				   Jan 2007			 mlocate.db(5)