xref: /freebsd/usr.bin/grep/grep.1 (revision 4495b4eb510d87277ed2dd4d27f7cebc7a76b4a8)
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31.\"	@(#)grep.1	8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
32.\"
33.Dd November 10, 2021
34.Dt GREP 1
35.Os
36.Sh NAME
37.Nm grep ,
38.Nm egrep ,
39.Nm fgrep ,
40.Nm rgrep
41.Nd file pattern searcher
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Nm grep
44.Bk -words
45.Op Fl abcdDEFGHhIiLlmnOopqRSsUVvwxz
46.Op Fl A Ar num
47.Op Fl B Ar num
48.Op Fl C Ar num
49.Op Fl e Ar pattern
50.Op Fl f Ar file
51.Op Fl Fl binary-files= Ns Ar value
52.Op Fl Fl color Ns Op Cm = Ns Ar when
53.Op Fl Fl colour Ns Op Cm = Ns Ar when
54.Op Fl Fl context= Ns Ar num
55.Op Fl Fl label
56.Op Fl Fl line-buffered
57.Op Fl Fl null
58.Op Ar pattern
59.Op Ar
60.Ek
61.Sh DESCRIPTION
62The
63.Nm grep
64utility searches any given input files,
65selecting lines that match one or more patterns.
66By default, a pattern matches an input line if the regular expression
67(RE) in the pattern matches the input line
68without its trailing newline.
69An empty expression matches every line.
70Each input line that matches at least one of the patterns is written
71to the standard output.
72.Pp
73.Nm grep
74is used for simple patterns and
75basic regular expressions
76.Pq BREs ;
77.Nm egrep
78can handle extended regular expressions
79.Pq EREs .
80See
81.Xr re_format 7
82for more information on regular expressions.
83.Nm fgrep
84is quicker than both
85.Nm grep
86and
87.Nm egrep ,
88but can only handle fixed patterns
89(i.e., it does not interpret regular expressions).
90Patterns may consist of one or more lines,
91allowing any of the pattern lines to match a portion of the input.
92.Pp
93The following options are available:
94.Bl -tag -width indent
95.It Fl A Ar num , Fl Fl after-context= Ns Ar num
96Print
97.Ar num
98lines of trailing context after each match.
99See also the
100.Fl B
101and
102.Fl C
103options.
104.It Fl a , Fl Fl text
105Treat all files as ASCII text.
106Normally
107.Nm
108will simply print
109.Dq Binary file ... matches
110if files contain binary characters.
111Use of this option forces
112.Nm
113to output lines matching the specified pattern.
114.It Fl B Ar num , Fl Fl before-context= Ns Ar num
115Print
116.Ar num
117lines of leading context before each match.
118See also the
119.Fl A
120and
121.Fl C
122options.
123.It Fl b , Fl Fl byte-offset
124The offset in bytes of a matched pattern is
125displayed in front of the respective matched line.
126.It Fl C Ar num , Fl Fl context= Ns Ar num
127Print
128.Ar num
129lines of leading and trailing context surrounding each match.
130See also the
131.Fl A
132and
133.Fl B
134options.
135.It Fl c , Fl Fl count
136Only a count of selected lines is written to standard output.
137.It Fl Fl colour= Ns Oo Ar when Oc , Fl Fl color= Ns Oo Ar when Oc
138Mark up the matching text with the expression stored in the
139.Ev GREP_COLOR
140environment variable.
141The possible values of
142.Ar when
143are
144.Dq Cm never ,
145.Dq Cm always
146and
147.Dq Cm auto .
148.It Fl D Ar action , Fl Fl devices= Ns Ar action
149Specify the demanded
150.Ar action
151for devices, FIFOs and sockets.
152The default
153.Ar action
154is
155.Dq Cm read ,
156which means, that they are read as if they were normal files.
157If the
158.Ar action
159is set to
160.Dq Cm skip ,
161devices are silently skipped.
162.It Fl d Ar action , Fl Fl directories= Ns Ar action
163Specify the demanded
164.Ar action
165for directories.
166It is
167.Dq Cm read
168by default, which means that the directories
169are read in the same manner as normal files.
170Other possible values are
171.Dq Cm skip
172to silently ignore the directories, and
173.Dq Cm recurse
174to read them recursively, which has the same effect as the
175.Fl R
176and
177.Fl r
178option.
179.It Fl E , Fl Fl extended-regexp
180Interpret
181.Ar pattern
182as an extended regular expression
183(i.e., force
184.Nm grep
185to behave as
186.Nm egrep ) .
187.It Fl e Ar pattern , Fl Fl regexp= Ns Ar pattern
188Specify a
189.Ar pattern
190used during the search of the input:
191an input line is selected if it matches any of the specified patterns.
192This option is most useful when multiple
193.Fl e
194options are used to specify multiple patterns,
195or when a
196.Ar pattern
197begins with a dash
198.Pq Sq - .
199.It Fl Fl exclude Ar pattern
200If specified, it excludes files matching the given
201filename
202.Ar pattern
203from the search.
204Note that
205.Fl Fl exclude
206and
207.Fl Fl include
208patterns are processed in the order given.
209If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
210If no
211.Fl Fl include
212pattern is specified, all files are searched that are
213not excluded.
214Patterns are matched to the full path specified,
215not only to the filename component.
216.It Fl Fl exclude-dir Ar pattern
217If
218.Fl R
219is specified, it excludes directories matching the
220given filename
221.Ar pattern
222from the search.
223Note that
224.Fl Fl exclude-dir
225and
226.Fl Fl include-dir
227patterns are processed in the order given.
228If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
229If no
230.Fl Fl include-dir
231pattern is specified, all directories are searched that are
232not excluded.
233.It Fl F , Fl Fl fixed-strings
234Interpret
235.Ar pattern
236as a set of fixed strings
237(i.e., force
238.Nm grep
239to behave as
240.Nm fgrep ) .
241.It Fl f Ar file , Fl Fl file= Ns Ar file
242Read one or more newline separated patterns from
243.Ar file .
244Empty pattern lines match every input line.
245Newlines are not considered part of a pattern.
246If
247.Ar file
248is empty, nothing is matched.
249.It Fl G , Fl Fl basic-regexp
250Interpret
251.Ar pattern
252as a basic regular expression
253(i.e., force
254.Nm grep
255to behave as traditional
256.Nm grep ) .
257.It Fl H
258Always print filename headers with output lines.
259.It Fl h , Fl Fl no-filename
260Never print filename headers
261.Pq i.e., filenames
262with output lines.
263.It Fl Fl help
264Print a brief help message.
265.It Fl I
266Ignore binary files.
267This option is equivalent to the
268.Dq Fl Fl binary-files= Ns Cm without-match
269option.
270.It Fl i , Fl Fl ignore-case
271Perform case insensitive matching.
272By default,
273.Nm grep
274is case sensitive.
275.It Fl Fl include Ar pattern
276If specified, only files matching the given filename
277.Ar pattern
278are searched.
279Note that
280.Fl Fl include
281and
282.Fl Fl exclude
283patterns are processed in the order given.
284If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
285Patterns are matched to the full path specified,
286not only to the filename component.
287.It Fl Fl include-dir Ar pattern
288If
289.Fl R
290is specified, only directories matching the given filename
291.Ar pattern
292are searched.
293Note that
294.Fl Fl include-dir
295and
296.Fl Fl exclude-dir
297patterns are processed in the order given.
298If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
299.It Fl L , Fl Fl files-without-match
300Only the names of files not containing selected lines are written to
301standard output.
302Pathnames are listed once per file searched.
303If the standard input is searched, the string
304.Dq (standard input)
305is written unless a
306.Fl Fl label
307is specified.
308.It Fl l , Fl Fl files-with-matches
309Only the names of files containing selected lines are written to
310standard output.
311.Nm grep
312will only search a file until a match has been found,
313making searches potentially less expensive.
314Pathnames are listed once per file searched.
315If the standard input is searched, the string
316.Dq (standard input)
317is written unless a
318.Fl Fl label
319is specified.
320.It Fl Fl label
321Label to use in place of
322.Dq (standard input)
323for a file name where a file name would normally be printed.
324This option applies to
325.Fl H ,
326.Fl L ,
327and
328.Fl l .
329.It Fl Fl mmap
330Use
331.Xr mmap 2
332instead of
333.Xr read 2
334to read input, which can result in better performance under some
335circumstances but can cause undefined behaviour.
336.It Fl m Ar num , Fl Fl max-count= Ns Ar num
337Stop reading the file after
338.Ar num
339matches.
340.It Fl n , Fl Fl line-number
341Each output line is preceded by its relative line number in the file,
342starting at line 1.
343The line number counter is reset for each file processed.
344This option is ignored if
345.Fl c ,
346.Fl L ,
347.Fl l ,
348or
349.Fl q
350is
351specified.
352.It Fl Fl null
353Prints a zero-byte after the file name.
354.It Fl O
355If
356.Fl R
357is specified, follow symbolic links only if they were explicitly listed
358on the command line.
359The default is not to follow symbolic links.
360.It Fl o , Fl Fl only-matching
361Prints only the matching part of the lines.
362.It Fl p
363If
364.Fl R
365is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
366This is the default.
367.It Fl q , Fl Fl quiet , Fl Fl silent
368Quiet mode:
369suppress normal output.
370.Nm grep
371will only search a file until a match has been found,
372making searches potentially less expensive.
373.It Fl R , Fl r , Fl Fl recursive
374Recursively search subdirectories listed.
375(i.e., force
376.Nm grep
377to behave as
378.Nm rgrep ) .
379.It Fl S
380If
381.Fl R
382is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
383The default is not to follow symbolic links.
384.It Fl s , Fl Fl no-messages
385Silent mode.
386Nonexistent and unreadable files are ignored
387(i.e., their error messages are suppressed).
388.It Fl U , Fl Fl binary
389Search binary files, but do not attempt to print them.
390.It Fl u
391This option has no effect and is provided only for compatibility with GNU grep.
392.It Fl V , Fl Fl version
393Display version information and exit.
394.It Fl v , Fl Fl invert-match
395Selected lines are those
396.Em not
397matching any of the specified patterns.
398.It Fl w , Fl Fl word-regexp
399The expression is searched for as a word (as if surrounded by
400.Sq [[:<:]]
401and
402.Sq [[:>:]] ;
403see
404.Xr re_format 7 ) .
405This option has no effect if
406.Fl x
407is also specified.
408.It Fl x , Fl Fl line-regexp
409Only input lines selected against an entire fixed string or regular
410expression are considered to be matching lines.
411.It Fl y
412Equivalent to
413.Fl i .
414Obsoleted.
415.It Fl z , Fl Fl null-data
416Treat input and output data as sequences of lines terminated by a
417zero-byte instead of a newline.
418.It Fl Fl binary-files= Ns Ar value
419Controls searching and printing of binary files.
420Options are:
421.Bl -tag -compact -width "binary (default)"
422.It Cm binary No (default)
423Search binary files but do not print them.
424.It Cm without-match
425Do not search binary files.
426.It Cm text
427Treat all files as text.
428.El
429.It Fl Fl line-buffered
430Force output to be line buffered.
431By default, output is line buffered when standard output is a terminal
432and block buffered otherwise.
433.El
434.Pp
435If no file arguments are specified, the standard input is used.
436Additionally,
437.Dq Cm -
438may be used in place of a file name, anywhere that a file name is accepted, to
439read from standard input.
440This includes both
441.Fl f
442and file arguments.
443.Sh EXIT STATUS
444The
445.Nm grep
446utility exits with one of the following values:
447.Pp
448.Bl -tag -width flag -compact
449.It Li 0
450One or more lines were selected.
451.It Li 1
452No lines were selected.
453.It Li \*(Gt1
454An error occurred.
455.El
456.Sh EXAMPLES
457.Bl -dash
458.It
459Find all occurrences of the pattern
460.Sq patricia
461in a file:
462.Pp
463.Dl $ grep 'patricia' myfile
464.It
465Same as above but looking only for complete words:
466.Pp
467.Dl $ grep -w 'patricia' myfile
468.It
469Count occurrences of the exact pattern
470.Sq FOO
471:
472.Pp
473.Dl $ grep -c FOO myfile
474.It
475Same as above but ignoring case:
476.Pp
477.Dl $ grep -c -i FOO myfile
478.It
479Find all occurrences of the pattern
480.Ql .Pp
481at the beginning of a line:
482.Pp
483.Dl $ grep '^\e.Pp' myfile
484.Pp
485The apostrophes ensure the entire expression is evaluated by
486.Nm grep
487instead of by the user's shell.
488The caret
489.Ql ^
490matches the null string at the beginning of a line,
491and the
492.Ql \e
493escapes the
494.Ql \&. ,
495which would otherwise match any character.
496.It
497Find all lines in a file which do not contain the words
498.Sq foo
499or
500.Sq bar :
501.Pp
502.Dl $ grep -v -e 'foo' -e 'bar' myfile
503.It
504Peruse the file
505.Sq calendar
506looking for either 19, 20, or 25 using extended regular expressions:
507.Pp
508.Dl $ egrep '19|20|25' calendar
509.It
510Show matching lines and the name of the
511.Sq *.h
512files which contain the pattern
513.Sq FIXME .
514Do the search recursively from the
515.Pa /usr/src/sys/arm
516directory
517.Pp
518.Dl $ grep -H -R FIXME --include="*.h" /usr/src/sys/arm/
519.It
520Same as above but show only the name of the matching file:
521.Pp
522.Dl $ grep -l -R FIXME --include="*.h" /usr/src/sys/arm/
523.It
524Show lines containing the text
525.Sq foo .
526The matching part of the output is colored and every line is prefixed with
527the line number and the offset in the file for those lines that matched.
528.Pp
529.Dl $ grep -b --colour -n foo myfile
530.It
531Show lines that match the extended regular expression patterns read from the
532standard input:
533.Pp
534.Dl $ echo -e 'Free\enBSD\enAll.*reserved' | grep -E -f - myfile
535.It
536Show lines from the output of the
537.Xr pciconf 8
538command matching the specified extended regular expression along with
539three lines of leading context and one line of trailing context:
540.Pp
541.Dl $ pciconf -lv | grep -B3 -A1 -E 'class.*=.*storage'
542.It
543Suppress any output and use the exit status to show an appropriate message:
544.Pp
545.Dl $ grep -q foo myfile && echo File matches
546.El
547.Sh SEE ALSO
548.Xr ed 1 ,
549.Xr ex 1 ,
550.Xr sed 1 ,
551.Xr zgrep 1 ,
552.Xr re_format 7
553.Sh STANDARDS
554The
555.Nm
556utility is compliant with the
557.St -p1003.1-2008
558specification.
559.Pp
560The flags
561.Op Fl AaBbCDdGHhILmopRSUVw
562are extensions to that specification, and the behaviour of the
563.Fl f
564flag when used with an empty pattern file is left undefined.
565.Pp
566All long options are provided for compatibility with
567GNU versions of this utility.
568.Pp
569Historic versions of the
570.Nm grep
571utility also supported the flags
572.Op Fl ruy .
573This implementation supports those options;
574however, their use is strongly discouraged.
575.Sh HISTORY
576The
577.Nm grep
578command first appeared in
579.At v6 .
580