File: grep.info-t, Node: Top, Next: Introduction, Up: (dir)
grep
****
`grep' prints lines that contain a match for a pattern.
This manual is for version 2.20 of GNU Grep.
This manual is for `grep', a pattern matching engine.
Copyright (C) 1999-2002, 2005, 2008-2014 Free Software Foundation,
Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License,
Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software
Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts,
and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included
in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
* Menu:
* Introduction:: Introduction.
* Invoking:: Command-line options, environment, exit status.
* Regular Expressions:: Regular Expressions.
* Usage:: Examples.
* Reporting Bugs:: Reporting Bugs.
* Copying:: License terms for this manual.
* Index:: Combined index.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Introduction, Next: Invoking, Prev: Top, Up: Top
1 Introduction
**************
`grep' searches input files for lines containing a match to a given
pattern list. When it finds a match in a line, it copies the line to
standard output (by default), or produces whatever other sort of output
you have requested with options.
Though `grep' expects to do the matching on text, it has no limits
on input line length other than available memory, and it can match
arbitrary characters within a line. If the final byte of an input file
is not a newline, `grep' silently supplies one. Since newline is also
a separator for the list of patterns, there is no way to match newline
characters in a text.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Invoking, Next: Regular Expressions, Prev: Introduction, Up: Top
2 Invoking `grep'
*****************
The general synopsis of the `grep' command line is
grep OPTIONS PATTERN INPUT_FILE_NAMES
There can be zero or more OPTIONS. PATTERN will only be seen as such
(and not as an INPUT_FILE_NAME) if it wasn't already specified within
OPTIONS (by using the `-e PATTERN' or `-f FILE' options). There can be
zero or more INPUT_FILE_NAMES.
* Menu:
* Command-line Options:: Short and long names, grouped by category.
* Environment Variables:: POSIX, GNU generic, and GNU grep specific.
* Exit Status:: Exit status returned by `grep'.
* grep Programs:: `grep' programs.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Command-line Options, Next: Environment Variables, Up: Invoking
2.1 Command-line Options
========================
`grep' comes with a rich set of options: some from POSIX and some being
GNU extensions. Long option names are always a GNU extension, even for
options that are from POSIX specifications. Options that are specified
by POSIX, under their short names, are explicitly marked as such to
facilitate POSIX-portable programming. A few option names are provided
for compatibility with older or more exotic implementations.
* Menu:
* Generic Program Information::
* Matching Control::
* General Output Control::
* Output Line Prefix Control::
* Context Line Control::
* File and Directory Selection::
* Other Options::
Several additional options control which variant of the `grep'
matching engine is used. *Note grep Programs::.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Generic Program Information, Next: Matching Control, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.1 Generic Program Information
---------------------------------
`--help'
Print a usage message briefly summarizing the command-line options
and the bug-reporting address, then exit.
`-V'
`--version'
Print the version number of `grep' to the standard output stream.
This version number should be included in all bug reports.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Matching Control, Next: General Output Control, Prev: Generic Program Information, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.2 Matching Control
----------------------
`-e PATTERN'
`--regexp=PATTERN'
Use PATTERN as the pattern. This can be used to specify multiple
search patterns, or to protect a pattern beginning with a `-'.
(`-e' is specified by POSIX.)
`-f FILE'
`--file=FILE'
Obtain patterns from FILE, one per line. The empty file contains
zero patterns, and therefore matches nothing. (`-f' is specified
by POSIX.)
`-i'
`-y'
`--ignore-case'
Ignore case distinctions, so that characters that differ only in
case match each other. Although this is straightforward when
letters differ in case only via lowercase-uppercase pairs, the
behavior is unspecified in other situations. For example,
uppercase "S" has an unusual lowercase counterpart "Å¿" (Unicode
character U+017F, LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S) in many locales, and
it is unspecified whether this unusual character matches "S" or
"s" even though uppercasing it yields "S". Another example: the
lowercase German letter "ß" (U+00DF, LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S)
is normally capitalized as the two-character string "SS" but it
does not match "SS", and it might not match the uppercase letter
"ẞ" (U+1E9E, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SHARP S) even though
lowercasing the latter yields the former.
`-y' is an obsolete synonym that is provided for compatibility.
(`-i' is specified by POSIX.)
`-v'
`--invert-match'
Invert the sense of matching, to select non-matching lines. (`-v'
is specified by POSIX.)
`-w'
`--word-regexp'
Select only those lines containing matches that form whole words.
The test is that the matching substring must either be at the
beginning of the line, or preceded by a non-word constituent
character. Similarly, it must be either at the end of the line or
followed by a non-word constituent character. Word-constituent
characters are letters, digits, and the underscore.
`-x'
`--line-regexp'
Select only those matches that exactly match the whole line.
(`-x' is specified by POSIX.)
File: grep.info-t, Node: General Output Control, Next: Output Line Prefix Control, Prev: Matching Control, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.3 General Output Control
----------------------------
`-c'
`--count'
Suppress normal output; instead print a count of matching lines
for each input file. With the `-v' (`--invert-match') option,
count non-matching lines. (`-c' is specified by POSIX.)
`--color[=WHEN]'
`--colour[=WHEN]'
Surround the matched (non-empty) strings, matching lines, context
lines, file names, line numbers, byte offsets, and separators (for
fields and groups of context lines) with escape sequences to
display them in color on the terminal. The colors are defined by
the environment variable `GREP_COLORS' and default to
`ms=01;31:mc=01;31:sl=:cx=:fn=35:ln=32:bn=32:se=36' for bold red
matched text, magenta file names, green line numbers, green byte
offsets, cyan separators, and default terminal colors otherwise.
The deprecated environment variable `GREP_COLOR' is still
supported, but its setting does not have priority; it defaults to
`01;31' (bold red) which only covers the color for matched text.
WHEN is `never', `always', or `auto'.
`-L'
`--files-without-match'
Suppress normal output; instead print the name of each input file
from which no output would normally have been printed. The
scanning of each file stops on the first match.
`-l'
`--files-with-matches'
Suppress normal output; instead print the name of each input file
from which output would normally have been printed. The scanning
of each file stops on the first match. (`-l' is specified by
POSIX.)
`-m NUM'
`--max-count=NUM'
Stop reading a file after NUM matching lines. If the input is
standard input from a regular file, and NUM matching lines are
output, `grep' ensures that the standard input is positioned just
after the last matching line before exiting, regardless of the
presence of trailing context lines. This enables a calling
process to resume a search. For example, the following shell
script makes use of it:
while grep -m 1 PATTERN
do
echo xxxx
done < FILE
But the following probably will not work because a pipe is not a
regular file:
# This probably will not work.
cat FILE |
while grep -m 1 PATTERN
do
echo xxxx
done
When `grep' stops after NUM matching lines, it outputs any
trailing context lines. Since context does not include matching
lines, `grep' will stop when it encounters another matching line.
When the `-c' or `--count' option is also used, `grep' does not
output a count greater than NUM. When the `-v' or
`--invert-match' option is also used, `grep' stops after
outputting NUM non-matching lines.
`-o'
`--only-matching'
Print only the matched (non-empty) parts of matching lines, with
each such part on a separate output line.
`-q'
`--quiet'
`--silent'
Quiet; do not write anything to standard output. Exit immediately
with zero status if any match is found, even if an error was
detected. Also see the `-s' or `--no-messages' option. (`-q' is
specified by POSIX.)
`-s'
`--no-messages'
Suppress error messages about nonexistent or unreadable files.
Portability note: unlike GNU `grep', 7th Edition Unix `grep' did
not conform to POSIX, because it lacked `-q' and its `-s' option
behaved like GNU `grep''s `-q' option.(1) USG-style `grep' also
lacked `-q' but its `-s' option behaved like GNU `grep''s.
Portable shell scripts should avoid both `-q' and `-s' and should
redirect standard and error output to `/dev/null' instead. (`-s'
is specified by POSIX.)
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) Of course, 7th Edition Unix predated POSIX by several years!
File: grep.info-t, Node: Output Line Prefix Control, Next: Context Line Control, Prev: General Output Control, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.4 Output Line Prefix Control
--------------------------------
When several prefix fields are to be output, the order is always file
name, line number, and byte offset, regardless of the order in which
these options were specified.
`-b'
`--byte-offset'
Print the 0-based byte offset within the input file before each
line of output. If `-o' (`--only-matching') is specified, print
the offset of the matching part itself. When `grep' runs on
MS-DOS or MS-Windows, the printed byte offsets depend on whether
the `-u' (`--unix-byte-offsets') option is used; see below.
`-H'
`--with-filename'
Print the file name for each match. This is the default when
there is more than one file to search.
`-h'
`--no-filename'
Suppress the prefixing of file names on output. This is the
default when there is only one file (or only standard input) to
search.
`--label=LABEL'
Display input actually coming from standard input as input coming
from file LABEL. This is especially useful when implementing
tools like `zgrep'; e.g.:
gzip -cd foo.gz | grep --label=foo -H something
`-n'
`--line-number'
Prefix each line of output with the 1-based line number within its
input file. (`-n' is specified by POSIX.)
`-T'
`--initial-tab'
Make sure that the first character of actual line content lies on
a tab stop, so that the alignment of tabs looks normal. This is
useful with options that prefix their output to the actual content:
`-H', `-n', and `-b'. In order to improve the probability that
lines from a single file will all start at the same column, this
also causes the line number and byte offset (if present) to be
printed in a minimum-size field width.
`-u'
`--unix-byte-offsets'
Report Unix-style byte offsets. This option causes `grep' to
report byte offsets as if the file were a Unix-style text file,
i.e., the byte offsets ignore the `CR' characters that were
stripped. This will produce results identical to running `grep'
on a Unix machine. This option has no effect unless the `-b'
option is also used; it has no effect on platforms other than
MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
`-Z'
`--null'
Output a zero byte (the ASCII `NUL' character) instead of the
character that normally follows a file name. For example, `grep
-lZ' outputs a zero byte after each file name instead of the usual
newline. This option makes the output unambiguous, even in the
presence of file names containing unusual characters like newlines.
This option can be used with commands like `find -print0', `perl
-0', `sort -z', and `xargs -0' to process arbitrary file names,
even those that contain newline characters.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Context Line Control, Next: File and Directory Selection, Prev: Output Line Prefix Control, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.5 Context Line Control
--------------------------
Regardless of how these options are set, `grep' will never print any
given line more than once. If the `-o' (`--only-matching') option is
specified, these options have no effect and a warning is given upon
their use.
`-A NUM'
`--after-context=NUM'
Print NUM lines of trailing context after matching lines.
`-B NUM'
`--before-context=NUM'
Print NUM lines of leading context before matching lines.
`-C NUM'
`-NUM'
`--context=NUM'
Print NUM lines of leading and trailing output context.
`--group-separator=STRING'
When `-A', `-B' or `-C' are in use, print STRING instead of `--'
between groups of lines.
`--no-group-separator'
When `-A', `-B' or `-C' are in use, do not print a separator
between groups of lines.
Here are some points about how `grep' chooses the separator to print
between prefix fields and line content:
* Matching lines normally use `:' as a separator between prefix
fields and actual line content.
* Context (i.e., non-matching) lines use `-' instead.
* When context is not specified, matching lines are simply output
one right after another.
* When context is specified, lines that are adjacent in the input
form a group and are output one right after another, while by
default a separator appears between non-adjacent groups.
* The default separator is a `--' line; its presence and appearance
can be changed with the options above.
* Each group may contain several matching lines when they are close
enough to each other that two adjacent groups connect and can
merge into a single contiguous one.
File: grep.info-t, Node: File and Directory Selection, Next: Other Options, Prev: Context Line Control, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.6 File and Directory Selection
----------------------------------
`-a'
`--text'
Process a binary file as if it were text; this is equivalent to
the `--binary-files=text' option.
`--binary-files=TYPE'
If a file's allocation metadata or its first few bytes indicate
that the file contains binary data, assume that the file is of
type TYPE. By default, TYPE is `binary', and `grep' normally
outputs either a one-line message saying that a binary file
matches, or no message if there is no match.
If TYPE is `without-match', `grep' assumes that a binary file does
not match; this is equivalent to the `-I' option.
If TYPE is `text', `grep' processes a binary file as if it were
text; this is equivalent to the `-a' option.
_Warning:_ `--binary-files=text' might output binary garbage,
which can have nasty side effects if the output is a terminal and
if the terminal driver interprets some of it as commands.
`-D ACTION'
`--devices=ACTION'
If an input file is a device, FIFO, or socket, use ACTION to
process it. If ACTION is `read', all devices are read just as if
they were ordinary files. If ACTION is `skip', devices, FIFOs,
and sockets are silently skipped. By default, devices are read if
they are on the command line or if the `-R'
(`--dereference-recursive') option is used, and are skipped if
they are encountered recursively and the `-r' (`--recursive')
option is used. This option has no effect on a file that is read
via standard input.
`-d ACTION'
`--directories=ACTION'
If an input file is a directory, use ACTION to process it. By
default, ACTION is `read', which means that directories are read
just as if they were ordinary files (some operating systems and
file systems disallow this, and will cause `grep' to print error
messages for every directory or silently skip them). If ACTION is
`skip', directories are silently skipped. If ACTION is `recurse',
`grep' reads all files under each directory, recursively,
following command-line symbolic links and skipping other symlinks;
this is equivalent to the `-r' option.
`--exclude=GLOB'
Skip files whose base name matches GLOB (using wildcard matching).
A file-name glob can use `*', `?', and `['...`]' as wildcards, and
`\' to quote a wildcard or backslash character literally.
`--exclude-from=FILE'
Skip files whose base name matches any of the file-name globs read
from FILE (using wildcard matching as described under `--exclude').
`--exclude-dir=DIR'
Skip any directory whose name matches the pattern DIR, ignoring
any redundant trailing slashes in DIR.
`-I'
Process a binary file as if it did not contain matching data; this
is equivalent to the `--binary-files=without-match' option.
`--include=GLOB'
Search only files whose base name matches GLOB (using wildcard
matching as described under `--exclude').
`-r'
`--recursive'
For each directory operand, read and process all files in that
directory, recursively. Follow symbolic links on the command
line, but skip symlinks that are encountered recursively. This is
the same as the `--directories=recurse' option.
`-R'
`--dereference-recursive'
For each directory operand, read and process all files in that
directory, recursively, following all symbolic links.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Other Options, Prev: File and Directory Selection, Up: Command-line Options
2.1.7 Other Options
-------------------
`--line-buffered'
Use line buffering on output. This can cause a performance
penalty.
`-U'
`--binary'
Treat the file(s) as binary. By default, under MS-DOS and
MS-Windows, `grep' guesses whether a file is text or binary as
described for the `--binary-files' option. If `grep' decides the
file is a text file, it strips the `CR' characters from the
original file contents (to make regular expressions with `^' and
`$' work correctly). Specifying `-U' overrules this guesswork,
causing all files to be read and passed to the matching mechanism
verbatim; if the file is a text file with `CR/LF' pairs at the end
of each line, this will cause some regular expressions to fail.
This option has no effect on platforms other than MS-DOS and
MS-Windows.
`-z'
`--null-data'
Treat the input as a set of lines, each terminated by a zero byte
(the ASCII `NUL' character) instead of a newline. Like the `-Z'
or `--null' option, this option can be used with commands like
`sort -z' to process arbitrary file names.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Environment Variables, Next: Exit Status, Prev: Command-line Options, Up: Invoking
2.2 Environment Variables
=========================
The behavior of `grep' is affected by the following environment
variables.
The locale for category `LC_FOO' is specified by examining the three
environment variables `LC_ALL', `LC_FOO', and `LANG', in that order.
The first of these variables that is set specifies the locale. For
example, if `LC_ALL' is not set, but `LC_MESSAGES' is set to `pt_BR',
then the Brazilian Portuguese locale is used for the `LC_MESSAGES'
category. The `C' locale is used if none of these environment
variables are set, if the locale catalog is not installed, or if `grep'
was not compiled with national language support (NLS).
Many of the environment variables in the following list let you
control highlighting using Select Graphic Rendition (SGR) commands
interpreted by the terminal or terminal emulator. (See the section in
the documentation of your text terminal for permitted values and their
meanings as character attributes.) These substring values are integers
in decimal representation and can be concatenated with semicolons.
`grep' takes care of assembling the result into a complete SGR sequence
(`\33['...`m'). Common values to concatenate include `1' for bold, `4'
for underline, `5' for blink, `7' for inverse, `39' for default
foreground color, `30' to `37' for foreground colors, `90' to `97' for
16-color mode foreground colors, `38;5;0' to `38;5;255' for 88-color
and 256-color modes foreground colors, `49' for default background
color, `40' to `47' for background colors, `100' to `107' for 16-color
mode background colors, and `48;5;0' to `48;5;255' for 88-color and
256-color modes background colors.
The two-letter names used in the `GREP_COLORS' environment variable
(and some of the others) refer to terminal "capabilities," the ability
of a terminal to highlight text, or change its color, and so on. These
capabilities are stored in an online database and accessed by the
`terminfo' library.
`GREP_OPTIONS'
This variable specifies default options to be placed in front of
any explicit options. For example, if `GREP_OPTIONS' is
`--binary-files=without-match --directories=skip', `grep' behaves
as if the two options `--binary-files=without-match' and
`--directories=skip' had been specified before any explicit
options. Option specifications are separated by whitespace. A
backslash escapes the next character, so it can be used to specify
an option containing whitespace or a backslash.
The `GREP_OPTIONS' value does not affect whether `grep' without
file operands searches standard input or the working directory;
that is affected only by command-line options. For example, the
command `grep PAT' searches standard input and the command `grep
-r PAT' searches the working directory, regardless of whether
`GREP_OPTIONS' contains `-r'.
`GREP_COLOR'
This variable specifies the color used to highlight matched
(non-empty) text. It is deprecated in favor of `GREP_COLORS', but
still supported. The `mt', `ms', and `mc' capabilities of
`GREP_COLORS' have priority over it. It can only specify the
color used to highlight the matching non-empty text in any
matching line (a selected line when the `-v' command-line option
is omitted, or a context line when `-v' is specified). The
default is `01;31', which means a bold red foreground text on the
terminal's default background.
`GREP_COLORS'
This variable specifies the colors and other attributes used to
highlight various parts of the output. Its value is a
colon-separated list of `terminfo' capabilities that defaults to
`ms=01;31:mc=01;31:sl=:cx=:fn=35:ln=32:bn=32:se=36' with the `rv'
and `ne' boolean capabilities omitted (i.e., false). Supported
capabilities are as follows.
`sl='
SGR substring for whole selected lines (i.e., matching lines
when the `-v' command-line option is omitted, or non-matching
lines when `-v' is specified). If however the boolean `rv'
capability and the `-v' command-line option are both
specified, it applies to context matching lines instead. The
default is empty (i.e., the terminal's default color pair).
`cx='
SGR substring for whole context lines (i.e., non-matching
lines when the `-v' command-line option is omitted, or
matching lines when `-v' is specified). If however the
boolean `rv' capability and the `-v' command-line option are
both specified, it applies to selected non-matching lines
instead. The default is empty (i.e., the terminal's default
color pair).
`rv'
Boolean value that reverses (swaps) the meanings of the `sl='
and `cx=' capabilities when the `-v' command-line option is
specified. The default is false (i.e., the capability is
omitted).
`mt=01;31'
SGR substring for matching non-empty text in any matching line
(i.e., a selected line when the `-v' command-line option is
omitted, or a context line when `-v' is specified). Setting
this is equivalent to setting both `ms=' and `mc=' at once to
the same value. The default is a bold red text foreground
over the current line background.
`ms=01;31'
SGR substring for matching non-empty text in a selected line.
(This is used only when the `-v' command-line option is
omitted.) The effect of the `sl=' (or `cx=' if `rv')
capability remains active when this takes effect. The
default is a bold red text foreground over the current line
background.
`mc=01;31'
SGR substring for matching non-empty text in a context line.
(This is used only when the `-v' command-line option is
specified.) The effect of the `cx=' (or `sl=' if `rv')
capability remains active when this takes effect. The
default is a bold red text foreground over the current line
background.
`fn=35'
SGR substring for file names prefixing any content line. The
default is a magenta text foreground over the terminal's
default background.
`ln=32'
SGR substring for line numbers prefixing any content line.
The default is a green text foreground over the terminal's
default background.
`bn=32'
SGR substring for byte offsets prefixing any content line.
The default is a green text foreground over the terminal's
default background.
`se=36'
SGR substring for separators that are inserted between
selected line fields (`:'), between context line fields (`-'),
and between groups of adjacent lines when nonzero context is
specified (`--'). The default is a cyan text foreground over
the terminal's default background.
`ne'
Boolean value that prevents clearing to the end of line using
Erase in Line (EL) to Right (`\33[K') each time a colorized
item ends. This is needed on terminals on which EL is not
supported. It is otherwise useful on terminals for which the
`back_color_erase' (`bce') boolean `terminfo' capability does
not apply, when the chosen highlight colors do not affect the
background, or when EL is too slow or causes too much flicker.
The default is false (i.e., the capability is omitted).
Note that boolean capabilities have no `='... part. They are
omitted (i.e., false) by default and become true when specified.
`LC_ALL'
`LC_COLLATE'
`LANG'
These variables specify the locale for the `LC_COLLATE' category,
which might affect how range expressions like `[a-z]' are
interpreted.
`LC_ALL'
`LC_CTYPE'
`LANG'
These variables specify the locale for the `LC_CTYPE' category,
which determines the type of characters, e.g., which characters
are whitespace.
`LC_ALL'
`LC_MESSAGES'
`LANG'
These variables specify the locale for the `LC_MESSAGES' category,
which determines the language that `grep' uses for messages. The
default `C' locale uses American English messages.
`POSIXLY_CORRECT'
If set, `grep' behaves as POSIX requires; otherwise, `grep'
behaves more like other GNU programs. POSIX requires that options
that follow file names must be treated as file names; by default,
such options are permuted to the front of the operand list and are
treated as options. Also, `POSIXLY_CORRECT' disables special
handling of an invalid bracket expression. *Note
invalid-bracket-expr::.
`_N_GNU_nonoption_argv_flags_'
(Here `N' is `grep''s numeric process ID.) If the Ith character
of this environment variable's value is `1', do not consider the
Ith operand of `grep' to be an option, even if it appears to be
one. A shell can put this variable in the environment for each
command it runs, specifying which operands are the results of file
name wildcard expansion and therefore should not be treated as
options. This behavior is available only with the GNU C library,
and only when `POSIXLY_CORRECT' is not set.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Exit Status, Next: grep Programs, Prev: Environment Variables, Up: Invoking
2.3 Exit Status
===============
Normally, the exit status is 0 if selected lines are found and 1
otherwise. But the exit status is 2 if an error occurred, unless the
`-q' or `--quiet' or `--silent' option is used and a selected line is
found. Note, however, that POSIX only mandates, for programs such as
`grep', `cmp', and `diff', that the exit status in case of error be
greater than 1; it is therefore advisable, for the sake of portability,
to use logic that tests for this general condition instead of strict
equality with 2.
File: grep.info-t, Node: grep Programs, Prev: Exit Status, Up: Invoking
2.4 `grep' Programs
===================
`grep' searches the named input files for lines containing a match to
the given pattern. By default, `grep' prints the matching lines. A
file named `-' stands for standard input. If no input is specified,
`grep' searches the working directory `.' if given a command-line
option specifying recursion; otherwise, `grep' searches standard input.
There are four major variants of `grep', controlled by the following
options.
`-G'
`--basic-regexp'
Interpret the pattern as a basic regular expression (BRE). This
is the default.
`-E'
`--extended-regexp'
Interpret the pattern as an extended regular expression (ERE).
(`-E' is specified by POSIX.)
`-F'
`--fixed-strings'
Interpret the pattern as a list of fixed strings, separated by
newlines, any of which is to be matched. (`-F' is specified by
POSIX.)
`-P'
`--perl-regexp'
Interpret the pattern as a Perl regular expression. This is
highly experimental and `grep -P' may warn of unimplemented
features.
In addition, two variant programs `egrep' and `fgrep' are available.
`egrep' is the same as `grep -E'. `fgrep' is the same as `grep -F'.
Direct invocation as either `egrep' or `fgrep' is deprecated, but is
provided to allow historical applications that rely on them to run
unmodified.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Regular Expressions, Next: Usage, Prev: Invoking, Up: Top
3 Regular Expressions
*********************
A "regular expression" is a pattern that describes a set of strings.
Regular expressions are constructed analogously to arithmetic
expressions, by using various operators to combine smaller expressions.
`grep' understands three different versions of regular expression
syntax: "basic," (BRE) "extended" (ERE) and "perl". In GNU `grep',
there is no difference in available functionality between the basic and
extended syntaxes. In other implementations, basic regular expressions
are less powerful. The following description applies to extended
regular expressions; differences for basic regular expressions are
summarized afterwards. Perl regular expressions give additional
functionality, and are documented in the pcresyntax(3) and
pcrepattern(3) manual pages, but may not be available on every system.
* Menu:
* Fundamental Structure::
* Character Classes and Bracket Expressions::
* The Backslash Character and Special Expressions::
* Anchoring::
* Back-references and Subexpressions::
* Basic vs Extended::
File: grep.info-t, Node: Fundamental Structure, Next: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions, Up: Regular Expressions
3.1 Fundamental Structure
=========================
The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match
a single character. Most characters, including all letters and digits,
are regular expressions that match themselves. Any meta-character with
special meaning may be quoted by preceding it with a backslash.
A regular expression may be followed by one of several repetition
operators:
`.'
The period `.' matches any single character.
`?'
The preceding item is optional and will be matched at most once.
`*'
The preceding item will be matched zero or more times.
`+'
The preceding item will be matched one or more times.
`{N}'
The preceding item is matched exactly N times.
`{N,}'
The preceding item is matched N or more times.
`{,M}'
The preceding item is matched at most M times. This is a GNU
extension.
`{N,M}'
The preceding item is matched at least N times, but not more than
M times.
The empty regular expression matches the empty string. Two regular
expressions may be concatenated; the resulting regular expression
matches any string formed by concatenating two substrings that
respectively match the concatenated expressions.
Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator `|'; the
resulting regular expression matches any string matching either
alternate expression.
Repetition takes precedence over concatenation, which in turn takes
precedence over alternation. A whole expression may be enclosed in
parentheses to override these precedence rules and form a subexpression.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions, Next: The Backslash Character and Special Expressions, Prev: Fundamental Structure, Up: Regular Expressions
3.2 Character Classes and Bracket Expressions
=============================================
A "bracket expression" is a list of characters enclosed by `[' and `]'.
It matches any single character in that list; if the first character of
the list is the caret `^', then it matches any character *not* in the
list. For example, the regular expression `[0123456789]' matches any
single digit.
Within a bracket expression, a "range expression" consists of two
characters separated by a hyphen. It matches any single character that
sorts between the two characters, inclusive. In the default C locale,
the sorting sequence is the native character order; for example,
`[a-d]' is equivalent to `[abcd]'. In other locales, the sorting
sequence is not specified, and `[a-d]' might be equivalent to `[abcd]'
or to `[aBbCcDd]', or it might fail to match any character, or the set
of characters that it matches might even be erratic. To obtain the
traditional interpretation of bracket expressions, you can use the `C'
locale by setting the `LC_ALL' environment variable to the value `C'.
Finally, certain named classes of characters are predefined within
bracket expressions, as follows. Their interpretation depends on the
`LC_CTYPE' locale; for example, `[[:alnum:]]' means the character class
of numbers and letters in the current locale.
`[:alnum:]'
Alphanumeric characters: `[:alpha:]' and `[:digit:]'; in the `C'
locale and ASCII character encoding, this is the same as
`[0-9A-Za-z]'.
`[:alpha:]'
Alphabetic characters: `[:lower:]' and `[:upper:]'; in the `C'
locale and ASCII character encoding, this is the same as
`[A-Za-z]'.
`[:blank:]'
Blank characters: space and tab.
`[:cntrl:]'
Control characters. In ASCII, these characters have octal codes
000 through 037, and 177 (`DEL'). In other character sets, these
are the equivalent characters, if any.
`[:digit:]'
Digits: `0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9'.
`[:graph:]'
Graphical characters: `[:alnum:]' and `[:punct:]'.
`[:lower:]'
Lower-case letters; in the `C' locale and ASCII character
encoding, this is `a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x
y z'.
`[:print:]'
Printable characters: `[:alnum:]', `[:punct:]', and space.
`[:punct:]'
Punctuation characters; in the `C' locale and ASCII character
encoding, this is `! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? @ [ \
] ^ _ ` { | } ~'.
`[:space:]'
Space characters: in the `C' locale, this is tab, newline,
vertical tab, form feed, carriage return, and space. *Note
Usage::, for more discussion of matching newlines.
`[:upper:]'
Upper-case letters: in the `C' locale and ASCII character
encoding, this is `A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Y Z'.
`[:xdigit:]'
Hexadecimal digits: `0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F a b c d e f'.
Note that the brackets in these class names are part of the symbolic
names, and must be included in addition to the brackets delimiting the
bracket expression.
If you mistakenly omit the outer brackets, and search for say,
`[:upper:]', GNU `grep' prints a diagnostic and exits with status 2, on
the assumption that you did not intend to search for the nominally
equivalent regular expression: `[:epru]'. Set the `POSIXLY_CORRECT'
environment variable to disable this feature.
Most meta-characters lose their special meaning inside bracket
expressions.
`]'
ends the bracket expression if it's not the first list item. So,
if you want to make the `]' character a list item, you must put it
first.
`[.'
represents the open collating symbol.
`.]'
represents the close collating symbol.
`[='
represents the open equivalence class.
`=]'
represents the close equivalence class.
`[:'
represents the open character class symbol, and should be followed
by a valid character class name.
`:]'
represents the close character class symbol.
`-'
represents the range if it's not first or last in a list or the
ending point of a range.
`^'
represents the characters not in the list. If you want to make
the `^' character a list item, place it anywhere but first.
File: grep.info-t, Node: The Backslash Character and Special Expressions, Next: Anchoring, Prev: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions, Up: Regular Expressions
3.3 The Backslash Character and Special Expressions
===================================================
The `\' character, when followed by certain ordinary characters, takes
a special meaning:
`\b'
Match the empty string at the edge of a word.
`\B'
Match the empty string provided it's not at the edge of a word.
`\<'
Match the empty string at the beginning of word.
`\>'
Match the empty string at the end of word.
`\w'
Match word constituent, it is a synonym for `[_[:alnum:]]'.
`\W'
Match non-word constituent, it is a synonym for `[^_[:alnum:]]'.
`\s'
Match whitespace, it is a synonym for `[[:space:]]'.
`\S'
Match non-whitespace, it is a synonym for `[^[:space:]]'.
For example, `\brat\b' matches the separate word `rat', `\Brat\B'
matches `crate' but not `furry rat'.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Anchoring, Next: Back-references and Subexpressions, Prev: The Backslash Character and Special Expressions, Up: Regular Expressions
3.4 Anchoring
=============
The caret `^' and the dollar sign `$' are meta-characters that
respectively match the empty string at the beginning and end of a line.
They are termed "anchors", since they force the match to be "anchored"
to beginning or end of a line, respectively.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Back-references and Subexpressions, Next: Basic vs Extended, Prev: Anchoring, Up: Regular Expressions
3.5 Back-references and Subexpressions
======================================
The back-reference `\N', where N is a single digit, matches the
substring previously matched by the Nth parenthesized subexpression of
the regular expression. For example, `(a)\1' matches `aa'. When used
with alternation, if the group does not participate in the match then
the back-reference makes the whole match fail. For example, `a(.)|b\1'
will not match `ba'. When multiple regular expressions are given with
`-e' or from a file (`-f FILE'), back-references are local to each
expression.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Basic vs Extended, Prev: Back-references and Subexpressions, Up: Regular Expressions
3.6 Basic vs Extended Regular Expressions
=========================================
In basic regular expressions the meta-characters `?', `+', `{', `|',
`(', and `)' lose their special meaning; instead use the backslashed
versions `\?', `\+', `\{', `\|', `\(', and `\)'.
Traditional `egrep' did not support the `{' meta-character, and some
`egrep' implementations support `\{' instead, so portable scripts
should avoid `{' in `grep -E' patterns and should use `[{]' to match a
literal `{'.
GNU `grep -E' attempts to support traditional usage by assuming that
`{' is not special if it would be the start of an invalid interval
specification. For example, the command `grep -E '{1'' searches for
the two-character string `{1' instead of reporting a syntax error in
the regular expression. POSIX allows this behavior as an extension,
but portable scripts should avoid it.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Usage, Next: Reporting Bugs, Prev: Regular Expressions, Up: Top
4 Usage
*******
Here is an example command that invokes GNU `grep':
grep -i 'hello.*world' menu.h main.c
This lists all lines in the files `menu.h' and `main.c' that contain
the string `hello' followed by the string `world'; this is because `.*'
matches zero or more characters within a line. *Note Regular
Expressions::. The `-i' option causes `grep' to ignore case, causing
it to match the line `Hello, world!', which it would not otherwise
match. *Note Invoking::, for more details about how to invoke `grep'.
Here are some common questions and answers about `grep' usage.
1. How can I list just the names of matching files?
grep -l 'main' *.c
lists the names of all C files in the current directory whose
contents mention `main'.
2. How do I search directories recursively?
grep -r 'hello' /home/gigi
searches for `hello' in all files under the `/home/gigi' directory.
For more control over which files are searched, use `find',
`grep', and `xargs'. For example, the following command searches
only C files:
find /home/gigi -name '*.c' -print0 | xargs -0r grep -H 'hello'
This differs from the command:
grep -H 'hello' *.c
which merely looks for `hello' in all files in the current
directory whose names end in `.c'. The `find ...' command line
above is more similar to the command:
grep -rH --include='*.c' 'hello' /home/gigi
3. What if a pattern has a leading `-'?
grep -e '--cut here--' *
searches for all lines matching `--cut here--'. Without `-e',
`grep' would attempt to parse `--cut here--' as a list of options.
4. Suppose I want to search for a whole word, not a part of a word?
grep -w 'hello' *
searches only for instances of `hello' that are entire words; it
does not match `Othello'. For more control, use `\<' and `\>' to
match the start and end of words. For example:
grep 'hello\>' *
searches only for words ending in `hello', so it matches the word
`Othello'.
5. How do I output context around the matching lines?
grep -C 2 'hello' *
prints two lines of context around each matching line.
6. How do I force `grep' to print the name of the file?
Append `/dev/null':
grep 'eli' /etc/passwd /dev/null
gets you:
/etc/passwd:eli:x:2098:1000:Eli Smith:/home/eli:/bin/bash
Alternatively, use `-H', which is a GNU extension:
grep -H 'eli' /etc/passwd
7. Why do people use strange regular expressions on `ps' output?
ps -ef | grep '[c]ron'
If the pattern had been written without the square brackets, it
would have matched not only the `ps' output line for `cron', but
also the `ps' output line for `grep'. Note that on some platforms,
`ps' limits the output to the width of the screen; `grep' does not
have any limit on the length of a line except the available memory.
8. Why does `grep' report "Binary file matches"?
If `grep' listed all matching "lines" from a binary file, it would
probably generate output that is not useful, and it might even
muck up your display. So GNU `grep' suppresses output from files
that appear to be binary files. To force GNU `grep' to output
lines even from files that appear to be binary, use the `-a' or
`--binary-files=text' option. To eliminate the "Binary file
matches" messages, use the `-I' or `--binary-files=without-match'
option.
9. Why doesn't `grep -lv' print non-matching file names?
`grep -lv' lists the names of all files containing one or more
lines that do not match. To list the names of all files that
contain no matching lines, use the `-L' or `--files-without-match'
option.
10. I can do "OR" with `|', but what about "AND"?
grep 'paul' /etc/motd | grep 'franc,ois'
finds all lines that contain both `paul' and `franc,ois'.
11. Why does the empty pattern match every input line?
The `grep' command searches for lines that contain strings that
match a pattern. Every line contains the empty string, so an
empty pattern causes `grep' to find a match on each line. It is
not the only such pattern: `^', `$', `.*', and many other patterns
cause `grep' to match every line.
To match empty lines, use the pattern `^$'. To match blank lines,
use the pattern `^[[:blank:]]*$'. To match no lines at all, use
the command `grep -f /dev/null'.
12. How can I search in both standard input and in files?
Use the special file name `-':
cat /etc/passwd | grep 'alain' - /etc/motd
13. How to express palindromes in a regular expression?
It can be done by using back-references; for example, a palindrome
of 4 characters can be written with a BRE:
grep -w -e '\(.\)\(.\).\2\1' file
It matches the word "radar" or "civic."
Guglielmo Bondioni proposed a single RE that finds all palindromes
up to 19 characters long using 9 subexpressions and
9 back-references:
grep -E -e '^(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?)(.?).?\9\8\7\6\5\4\3\2\1$' file
Note this is done by using GNU ERE extensions; it might not be
portable to other implementations of `grep'.
14. Why is this back-reference failing?
echo 'ba' | grep -E '(a)\1|b\1'
This gives no output, because the first alternate `(a)\1' does not
match, as there is no `aa' in the input, so the `\1' in the second
alternate has nothing to refer back to, meaning it will never
match anything. (The second alternate in this example can only
match if the first alternate has matched--making the second one
superfluous.)
15. How can I match across lines?
Standard grep cannot do this, as it is fundamentally line-based.
Therefore, merely using the `[:space:]' character class does not
match newlines in the way you might expect.
With the GNU `grep' option `-z' (*note File and Directory
Selection::), the input is terminated by null bytes. Thus, you
can match newlines in the input, but typically if there is a match
the entire input is output, so this usage is often combined with
output-suppressing options like `-q', e.g.:
printf 'foo\nbar\n' | grep -z -q 'foo[[:space:]]\+bar'
If this does not suffice, you can transform the input before
giving it to `grep', or turn to `awk', `sed', `perl', or many
other utilities that are designed to operate across lines.
16. What do `grep', `fgrep', and `egrep' stand for?
The name `grep' comes from the way line editing was done on Unix.
For example, `ed' uses the following syntax to print a list of
matching lines on the screen:
global/regular expression/print
g/re/p
`fgrep' stands for Fixed `grep'; `egrep' stands for Extended
`grep'.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Reporting Bugs, Next: Copying, Prev: Usage, Up: Top
5 Reporting bugs
****************
Email bug reports to <bug-grep AT gnu.org>, a mailing list whose web page
is `http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-grep'. The Savannah bug
tracker for `grep' is located at
`http://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=grep'.
5.1 Known Bugs
==============
Large repetition counts in the `{n,m}' construct may cause `grep' to
use lots of memory. In addition, certain other obscure regular
expressions require exponential time and space, and may cause `grep' to
run out of memory.
Back-references are very slow, and may require exponential time.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Copying, Next: Index, Prev: Reporting Bugs, Up: Top
6 Copying
*********
GNU `grep' is licensed under the GNU GPL, which makes it "free
software".
The "free" in "free software" refers to liberty, not price. As some
GNU project advocates like to point out, think of "free speech" rather
than "free beer". In short, you have the right (freedom) to run and
change `grep' and distribute it to other people, and--if you
want--charge money for doing either. The important restriction is that
you have to grant your recipients the same rights and impose the same
restrictions.
This general method of licensing software is sometimes called "open
source". The GNU project prefers the term "free software" for reasons
outlined at
`http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html'.
This manual is free documentation in the same sense. The
documentation license is included below. The license for the program
is available with the source code, or at
`http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html'.
* Menu:
* GNU Free Documentation License::
File: grep.info-t, Node: GNU Free Documentation License, Up: Copying
6.1 GNU Free Documentation License
==================================
Version 1.3, 3 November 2008
Copyright (C) 2000-2002, 2007-2008, 2010-2014 Free Software
Foundation, Inc.
`http://fsf.org/'
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other
functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to
assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,
with or without modifying it, either commercially or
noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the
author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not
being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative
works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense.
It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft
license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for
free software, because free software needs free documentation: a
free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms
that the software does. But this License is not limited to
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of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book.
We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is
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the Addendum below.
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Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's
license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title,
and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new
authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on
the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in
the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors,
and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page,
then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in
the previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document
for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and
likewise the network locations given in the Document for
previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in
the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a
work that was published at least four years before the
Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version
it refers to gives permission.
K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications",
Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the
section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor
acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document,
unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers
or the equivalent are not considered part of the section
titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section
may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled
"Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant
Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or
appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no
material copied from the Document, you may at your option
designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this,
add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any
other section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains
nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various
parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text
has been approved by an organization as the authoritative
definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text,
and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end
of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one
passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be
added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the
Document already includes a cover text for the same cover,
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you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may
replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous
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The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this
License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to
assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under
this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for
modified versions, provided that you include in the combination
all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents,
unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all
their Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and
multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single
copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name
but different contents, make the title of each such section unique
by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the
original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a
unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in
the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the
combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled
"History" in the various original documents, forming one section
Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled
"Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You
must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements."
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other
documents released under this License, and replace the individual
copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy
that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the
rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the
documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and
distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert
a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow
this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of
that document.
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other
separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of
a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the
copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the
legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual
works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this
License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which
are not themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these
copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half
of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed
on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the
electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic
form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket
the whole aggregate.
8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may
distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section
4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special
permission from their copyright holders, but you may include
translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the
original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a
translation of this License, and all the license notices in the
Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also
include the original English version of this License and the
original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a
disagreement between the translation and the original version of
this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements",
"Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to
Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the
actual title.
9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document
except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt
otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void,
and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your
license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a)
provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder explicitly
and finally terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the
copyright holder fails to notify you of the violation by some
reasonable means prior to 60 days after the cessation.
Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is
reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the
violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have
received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from
that copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days
after your receipt of the notice.
Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate
the licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from
you under this License. If your rights have been terminated and
not permanently reinstated, receipt of a copy of some or all of
the same material does not give you any rights to use it.
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of
the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new
versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may
differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See
`http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/'.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version
number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered
version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you
have the option of following the terms and conditions either of
that specified version or of any later version that has been
published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If
the Document does not specify a version number of this License,
you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the
Free Software Foundation. If the Document specifies that a proxy
can decide which future versions of this License can be used, that
proxy's public statement of acceptance of a version permanently
authorizes you to choose that version for the Document.
11. RELICENSING
"Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Site" (or "MMC Site") means any
World Wide Web server that publishes copyrightable works and also
provides prominent facilities for anybody to edit those works. A
public wiki that anybody can edit is an example of such a server.
A "Massive Multiauthor Collaboration" (or "MMC") contained in the
site means any set of copyrightable works thus published on the MMC
site.
"CC-BY-SA" means the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit
corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco,
California, as well as future copyleft versions of that license
published by that same organization.
"Incorporate" means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or
in part, as part of another Document.
An MMC is "eligible for relicensing" if it is licensed under this
License, and if all works that were first published under this
License somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently
incorporated in whole or in part into the MMC, (1) had no cover
texts or invariant sections, and (2) were thus incorporated prior
to November 1, 2008.
The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the
site under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1,
2009, provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing.
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
====================================================
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of
the License in the document and put the following copyright and license
notices just after the title page:
Copyright (C) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
Free Documentation License''.
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover
Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:
with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with
the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts
being LIST.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other
combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the
situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we
recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of
free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to
permit their use in free software.
File: grep.info-t, Node: Index, Prev: Copying, Up: Top
Index
*****
[index]
* Menu:
* *: Fundamental Structure.
(line 21)
* +: Fundamental Structure.
(line 24)
* --after-context: Context Line Control.
(line 13)
* --basic-regexp: grep Programs. (line 16)
* --before-context: Context Line Control.
(line 17)
* --binary: Other Options. (line 12)
* --binary-files: File and Directory Selection.
(line 12)
* --byte-offset: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 12)
* --color: General Output Control.
(line 14)
* --colour: General Output Control.
(line 14)
* --context: Context Line Control.
(line 22)
* --count: General Output Control.
(line 8)
* --dereference-recursive: File and Directory Selection.
(line 82)
* --devices: File and Directory Selection.
(line 30)
* --directories: File and Directory Selection.
(line 42)
* --exclude: File and Directory Selection.
(line 53)
* --exclude-dir: File and Directory Selection.
(line 62)
* --exclude-from: File and Directory Selection.
(line 58)
* --extended-regexp: grep Programs. (line 21)
* --file: Matching Control. (line 14)
* --files-with-matches: General Output Control.
(line 35)
* --files-without-match: General Output Control.
(line 29)
* --fixed-strings: grep Programs. (line 26)
* --group-separator: Context Line Control.
(line 25)
* --help: Generic Program Information.
(line 7)
* --ignore-case: Matching Control. (line 21)
* --include: File and Directory Selection.
(line 70)
* --initial-tab: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 43)
* --invert-match: Matching Control. (line 40)
* --label: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 30)
* --line-buffered: Other Options. (line 7)
* --line-number: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 38)
* --line-regexp: Matching Control. (line 54)
* --max-count: General Output Control.
(line 42)
* --no-filename: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 25)
* --no-messages: General Output Control.
(line 88)
* --null: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 63)
* --null-data: Other Options. (line 26)
* --only-matching: General Output Control.
(line 75)
* --perl-regexp: grep Programs. (line 32)
* --quiet: General Output Control.
(line 81)
* --recursive: File and Directory Selection.
(line 75)
* --regexp=PATTERN: Matching Control. (line 8)
* --silent: General Output Control.
(line 81)
* --text: File and Directory Selection.
(line 8)
* --unix-byte-offsets: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 53)
* --version: Generic Program Information.
(line 12)
* --with-filename: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 20)
* --word-regexp: Matching Control. (line 45)
* -a: File and Directory Selection.
(line 8)
* -A: Context Line Control.
(line 13)
* -B: Context Line Control.
(line 17)
* -b: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 12)
* -C: Context Line Control.
(line 22)
* -c: General Output Control.
(line 8)
* -d: File and Directory Selection.
(line 42)
* -D: File and Directory Selection.
(line 30)
* -E: grep Programs. (line 21)
* -e: Matching Control. (line 8)
* -F: grep Programs. (line 26)
* -f: Matching Control. (line 14)
* -G: grep Programs. (line 16)
* -h: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 25)
* -H: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 20)
* -i: Matching Control. (line 21)
* -l: General Output Control.
(line 35)
* -L: General Output Control.
(line 29)
* -m: General Output Control.
(line 42)
* -n: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 38)
* -NUM: Context Line Control.
(line 22)
* -o: General Output Control.
(line 75)
* -P: grep Programs. (line 32)
* -q: General Output Control.
(line 81)
* -R: File and Directory Selection.
(line 82)
* -r: File and Directory Selection.
(line 75)
* -s: General Output Control.
(line 88)
* -T: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 43)
* -U: Other Options. (line 12)
* -u: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 53)
* -v: Matching Control. (line 40)
* -V: Generic Program Information.
(line 12)
* -w: Matching Control. (line 45)
* -x: Matching Control. (line 54)
* -y: Matching Control. (line 21)
* -z: Other Options. (line 26)
* -Z: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 63)
* .: Fundamental Structure.
(line 15)
* ?: Fundamental Structure.
(line 18)
* _N_GNU_nonoption_argv_flags_ environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 189)
* after context: Context Line Control.
(line 13)
* alnum character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 29)
* alpha character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 34)
* alphabetic characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 34)
* alphanumeric characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 29)
* anchoring: Anchoring. (line 6)
* asterisk: Fundamental Structure.
(line 21)
* back-reference: Back-references and Subexpressions.
(line 6)
* backslash: The Backslash Character and Special Expressions.
(line 6)
* basic regular expressions: Basic vs Extended. (line 6)
* before context: Context Line Control.
(line 17)
* binary files: File and Directory Selection.
(line 8)
* binary files, MS-DOS/MS-Windows: Other Options. (line 12)
* blank character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 39)
* blank characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 39)
* bn GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 134)
* braces, first argument omitted: Fundamental Structure.
(line 33)
* braces, one argument: Fundamental Structure.
(line 27)
* braces, second argument omitted: Fundamental Structure.
(line 30)
* braces, two arguments: Fundamental Structure.
(line 37)
* bracket expression: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 6)
* Bugs, known: Reporting Bugs. (line 14)
* bugs, reporting: Reporting Bugs. (line 6)
* byte offset: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 12)
* byte offsets, on MS-DOS/MS-Windows: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 53)
* case insensitive search: Matching Control. (line 21)
* changing name of standard input: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 30)
* character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 6)
* character classes: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 28)
* character type: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* classes of characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 28)
* cntrl character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 42)
* context: Context Line Control.
(line 22)
* context lines, after match: Context Line Control.
(line 13)
* context lines, before match: Context Line Control.
(line 17)
* control characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 42)
* copying: Copying. (line 6)
* counting lines: General Output Control.
(line 8)
* cx GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 85)
* default options environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 41)
* device search: File and Directory Selection.
(line 30)
* digit character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 47)
* digit characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 47)
* directory search: File and Directory Selection.
(line 42)
* dot: Fundamental Structure.
(line 15)
* environment variables: Environment Variables.
(line 40)
* exclude directories: File and Directory Selection.
(line 62)
* exclude files: File and Directory Selection.
(line 53)
* exit status: Exit Status. (line 6)
* FAQ about grep usage: Usage. (line 17)
* files which don't match: General Output Control.
(line 29)
* fn GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 124)
* graph character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 50)
* graphic characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 50)
* grep programs: grep Programs. (line 6)
* GREP_COLOR environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 58)
* GREP_COLORS environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 69)
* GREP_OPTIONS environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 41)
* group separator: Context Line Control.
(line 25)
* hexadecimal digits: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 76)
* highlight markers: Environment Variables.
(line 58)
* highlight, color, colour: General Output Control.
(line 14)
* include files: File and Directory Selection.
(line 70)
* interval specifications: Basic vs Extended. (line 10)
* invert matching: Matching Control. (line 40)
* LANG environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* language of messages: Environment Variables.
(line 175)
* LC_ALL environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* LC_COLLATE environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* LC_CTYPE environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 168)
* LC_MESSAGES environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 175)
* line buffering: Other Options. (line 7)
* line numbering: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 38)
* ln GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 129)
* lower character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 53)
* lower-case letters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 53)
* match expression at most M times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 33)
* match expression at most once: Fundamental Structure.
(line 18)
* match expression from N to M times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 37)
* match expression N or more times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 30)
* match expression N times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 27)
* match expression one or more times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 24)
* match expression zero or more times: Fundamental Structure.
(line 21)
* match the whole line: Matching Control. (line 54)
* matching basic regular expressions: grep Programs. (line 16)
* matching extended regular expressions: grep Programs. (line 21)
* matching fixed strings: grep Programs. (line 26)
* matching Perl regular expressions: grep Programs. (line 32)
* matching whole words: Matching Control. (line 45)
* max-count: General Output Control.
(line 42)
* mc GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 116)
* message language: Environment Variables.
(line 175)
* ms GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 108)
* MS-DOS/MS-Windows binary files: Other Options. (line 12)
* MS-DOS/MS-Windows byte offsets: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 53)
* mt GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 100)
* names of matching files: General Output Control.
(line 35)
* national language support: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* ne GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 146)
* NLS: Environment Variables.
(line 161)
* no filename prefix: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 25)
* numeric characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 47)
* only matching: General Output Control.
(line 75)
* palindromes: Usage. (line 139)
* pattern from file: Matching Control. (line 14)
* pattern list: Matching Control. (line 8)
* period: Fundamental Structure.
(line 15)
* plus sign: Fundamental Structure.
(line 24)
* POSIXLY_CORRECT environment variable: Environment Variables.
(line 180)
* print character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 58)
* print non-matching lines: Matching Control. (line 40)
* printable characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 58)
* punct character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 61)
* punctuation characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 61)
* question mark: Fundamental Structure.
(line 18)
* quiet, silent: General Output Control.
(line 81)
* range expression: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 12)
* recursive search: File and Directory Selection.
(line 75)
* regular expressions: Regular Expressions. (line 6)
* return status: Exit Status. (line 6)
* rv GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 94)
* searching directory trees: File and Directory Selection.
(line 53)
* searching for a pattern: Introduction. (line 6)
* sl GREP_COLORS capability: Environment Variables.
(line 77)
* space character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 66)
* space characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 66)
* subexpression: Back-references and Subexpressions.
(line 6)
* suppress binary data: File and Directory Selection.
(line 8)
* suppress error messages: General Output Control.
(line 88)
* symbolic links: File and Directory Selection.
(line 42)
* tab-aligned content lines: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 43)
* translation of message language: Environment Variables.
(line 175)
* upper character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 71)
* upper-case letters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 71)
* usage summary, printing: Generic Program Information.
(line 7)
* usage, examples: Usage. (line 6)
* using grep, Q&A: Usage. (line 17)
* variants of grep: grep Programs. (line 6)
* version, printing: Generic Program Information.
(line 12)
* whitespace characters: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 66)
* with filename prefix: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 20)
* xdigit character class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 76)
* xdigit class: Character Classes and Bracket Expressions.
(line 76)
* zero-terminated file names: Output Line Prefix Control.
(line 63)
* zero-terminated lines: Other Options. (line 26)
* {,M}: Fundamental Structure.
(line 33)
* {N,M}: Fundamental Structure.
(line 37)
* {N,}: Fundamental Structure.
(line 30)
* {N}: Fundamental Structure.
(line 27)