xref: /freebsd/usr.bin/grep/grep.1 (revision a0409676120c1e558d0ade943019934e0f15118d)
1.\"	$NetBSD: grep.1,v 1.2 2011/02/16 01:31:33 joerg Exp $
2.\"	$FreeBSD$
3.\"	$OpenBSD: grep.1,v 1.38 2010/04/05 06:30:59 jmc Exp $
4.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
5.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
6.\"
7.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
8.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
9.\" are met:
10.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
11.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
12.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
13.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
14.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
15.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
16.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
17.\"    without specific prior written permission.
18.\"
19.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
20.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
21.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
22.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
23.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
24.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
25.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
26.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
27.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
28.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
29.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
30.\"
31.\"	@(#)grep.1	8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
32.\"
33.Dd February 4, 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 Ns Op 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 Op Cm = 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 Ns Oo Ar num Oc , Fl Fl context Ns Oo = Ns Ar num Oc
127Print
128.Ar num
129lines of leading and trailing context surrounding each match.
130The default value of
131.Ar num
132is
133.Dq 2
134and is equivalent to
135.Dq Fl A Ar 2 Fl B Ar 2 .
136Note:
137no whitespace may be given between the option and its argument.
138.It Fl c , Fl Fl count
139Only a count of selected lines is written to standard output.
140.It Fl Fl colour= Ns Oo Ar when Oc , Fl Fl color= Ns Oo Ar when Oc
141Mark up the matching text with the expression stored in the
142.Ev GREP_COLOR
143environment variable.
144The possible values of
145.Ar when
146are
147.Dq Cm never ,
148.Dq Cm always
149and
150.Dq Cm auto .
151.It Fl D Ar action , Fl Fl devices= Ns Ar action
152Specify the demanded
153.Ar action
154for devices, FIFOs and sockets.
155The default
156.Ar action
157is
158.Dq Cm read ,
159which means, that they are read as if they were normal files.
160If the
161.Ar action
162is set to
163.Dq Cm skip ,
164devices are silently skipped.
165.It Fl d Ar action , Fl Fl directories= Ns Ar action
166Specify the demanded
167.Ar action
168for directories.
169It is
170.Dq Cm read
171by default, which means that the directories
172are read in the same manner as normal files.
173Other possible values are
174.Dq Cm skip
175to silently ignore the directories, and
176.Dq Cm recurse
177to read them recursively, which has the same effect as the
178.Fl R
179and
180.Fl r
181option.
182.It Fl E , Fl Fl extended-regexp
183Interpret
184.Ar pattern
185as an extended regular expression
186(i.e., force
187.Nm grep
188to behave as
189.Nm egrep ) .
190.It Fl e Ar pattern , Fl Fl regexp= Ns Ar pattern
191Specify a
192.Ar pattern
193used during the search of the input:
194an input line is selected if it matches any of the specified patterns.
195This option is most useful when multiple
196.Fl e
197options are used to specify multiple patterns,
198or when a
199.Ar pattern
200begins with a dash
201.Pq Sq - .
202.It Fl Fl exclude Ar pattern
203If specified, it excludes files matching the given
204filename
205.Ar pattern
206from the search.
207Note that
208.Fl Fl exclude
209and
210.Fl Fl include
211patterns are processed in the order given.
212If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
213If no
214.Fl Fl include
215pattern is specified, all files are searched that are
216not excluded.
217Patterns are matched to the full path specified,
218not only to the filename component.
219.It Fl Fl exclude-dir Ar pattern
220If
221.Fl R
222is specified, it excludes directories matching the
223given filename
224.Ar pattern
225from the search.
226Note that
227.Fl Fl exclude-dir
228and
229.Fl Fl include-dir
230patterns are processed in the order given.
231If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
232If no
233.Fl Fl include-dir
234pattern is specified, all directories are searched that are
235not excluded.
236.It Fl F , Fl Fl fixed-strings
237Interpret
238.Ar pattern
239as a set of fixed strings
240(i.e., force
241.Nm grep
242to behave as
243.Nm fgrep ) .
244.It Fl f Ar file , Fl Fl file= Ns Ar file
245Read one or more newline separated patterns from
246.Ar file .
247Empty pattern lines match every input line.
248Newlines are not considered part of a pattern.
249If
250.Ar file
251is empty, nothing is matched.
252.It Fl G , Fl Fl basic-regexp
253Interpret
254.Ar pattern
255as a basic regular expression
256(i.e., force
257.Nm grep
258to behave as traditional
259.Nm grep ) .
260.It Fl H
261Always print filename headers with output lines.
262.It Fl h , Fl Fl no-filename
263Never print filename headers
264.Pq i.e., filenames
265with output lines.
266.It Fl Fl help
267Print a brief help message.
268.It Fl I
269Ignore binary files.
270This option is equivalent to the
271.Dq Fl Fl binary-file= Ns Cm without-match
272option.
273.It Fl i , Fl Fl ignore-case
274Perform case insensitive matching.
275By default,
276.Nm grep
277is case sensitive.
278.It Fl Fl include Ar pattern
279If specified, only files matching the given filename
280.Ar pattern
281are searched.
282Note that
283.Fl Fl include
284and
285.Fl Fl exclude
286patterns are processed in the order given.
287If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
288Patterns are matched to the full path specified,
289not only to the filename component.
290.It Fl Fl include-dir Ar pattern
291If
292.Fl R
293is specified, only directories matching the given filename
294.Ar pattern
295are searched.
296Note that
297.Fl Fl include-dir
298and
299.Fl Fl exclude-dir
300patterns are processed in the order given.
301If a name matches multiple patterns, the latest matching rule wins.
302.It Fl L , Fl Fl files-without-match
303Only the names of files not containing selected lines are written to
304standard output.
305Pathnames are listed once per file searched.
306If the standard input is searched, the string
307.Dq (standard input)
308is written unless a
309.Fl Fl label
310is specified.
311.It Fl l , Fl Fl files-with-matches
312Only the names of files containing selected lines are written to
313standard output.
314.Nm grep
315will only search a file until a match has been found,
316making searches potentially less expensive.
317Pathnames are listed once per file searched.
318If the standard input is searched, the string
319.Dq (standard input)
320is written unless a
321.Fl Fl label
322is specified.
323.It Fl Fl label
324Label to use in place of
325.Dq (standard input)
326for a file name where a file name would normally be printed.
327This option applies to
328.Fl H ,
329.Fl L ,
330and
331.Fl l .
332.It Fl Fl mmap
333Use
334.Xr mmap 2
335instead of
336.Xr read 2
337to read input, which can result in better performance under some
338circumstances but can cause undefined behaviour.
339.It Fl m Ar num , Fl Fl max-count= Ns Ar num
340Stop reading the file after
341.Ar num
342matches.
343.It Fl n , Fl Fl line-number
344Each output line is preceded by its relative line number in the file,
345starting at line 1.
346The line number counter is reset for each file processed.
347This option is ignored if
348.Fl c ,
349.Fl L ,
350.Fl l ,
351or
352.Fl q
353is
354specified.
355.It Fl Fl null
356Prints a zero-byte after the file name.
357.It Fl O
358If
359.Fl R
360is specified, follow symbolic links only if they were explicitly listed
361on the command line.
362The default is not to follow symbolic links.
363.It Fl o , Fl Fl only-matching
364Prints only the matching part of the lines.
365.It Fl p
366If
367.Fl R
368is specified, no symbolic links are followed.
369This is the default.
370.It Fl q , Fl Fl quiet , Fl Fl silent
371Quiet mode:
372suppress normal output.
373.Nm grep
374will only search a file until a match has been found,
375making searches potentially less expensive.
376.It Fl R , Fl r , Fl Fl recursive
377Recursively search subdirectories listed.
378(i.e., force
379.Nm grep
380to behave as
381.Nm rgrep ) .
382.It Fl S
383If
384.Fl R
385is specified, all symbolic links are followed.
386The default is not to follow symbolic links.
387.It Fl s , Fl Fl no-messages
388Silent mode.
389Nonexistent and unreadable files are ignored
390(i.e., their error messages are suppressed).
391.It Fl U , Fl Fl binary
392Search binary files, but do not attempt to print them.
393.It Fl u
394This option has no effect and is provided only for compatibility with GNU grep.
395.It Fl V , Fl Fl version
396Display version information and exit.
397.It Fl v , Fl Fl invert-match
398Selected lines are those
399.Em not
400matching any of the specified patterns.
401.It Fl w , Fl Fl word-regexp
402The expression is searched for as a word (as if surrounded by
403.Sq [[:<:]]
404and
405.Sq [[:>:]] ;
406see
407.Xr re_format 7 ) .
408This option has no effect if
409.Fl x
410is also specified.
411.It Fl x , Fl Fl line-regexp
412Only input lines selected against an entire fixed string or regular
413expression are considered to be matching lines.
414.It Fl y
415Equivalent to
416.Fl i .
417Obsoleted.
418.It Fl z , Fl Fl null-data
419Treat input and output data as sequences of lines terminated by a
420zero-byte instead of a newline.
421.It Fl Fl binary-files= Ns Ar value
422Controls searching and printing of binary files.
423Options are:
424.Bl -tag -compact -width "binary (default)"
425.It Cm binary No (default)
426Search binary files but do not print them.
427.It Cm without-match
428Do not search binary files.
429.It Cm text
430Treat all files as text.
431.El
432.It Fl Fl line-buffered
433Force output to be line buffered.
434By default, output is line buffered when standard output is a terminal
435and block buffered otherwise.
436.El
437.Pp
438If no file arguments are specified, the standard input is used.
439Additionally,
440.Dq Cm -
441may be used in place of a file name, anywhere that a file name is accepted, to
442read from standard input.
443This includes both
444.Fl f
445and file arguments.
446.Sh EXIT STATUS
447The
448.Nm grep
449utility exits with one of the following values:
450.Pp
451.Bl -tag -width flag -compact
452.It Li 0
453One or more lines were selected.
454.It Li 1
455No lines were selected.
456.It Li \*(Gt1
457An error occurred.
458.El
459.Sh EXAMPLES
460.Bl -dash
461.It
462Find all occurrences of the pattern
463.Sq patricia
464in a file:
465.Pp
466.Dl $ grep 'patricia' myfile
467.It
468Same as above but looking only for complete words:
469.Pp
470.Dl $ grep -w 'patricia' myfile
471.It
472Count occurrences of the exact pattern
473.Sq FOO
474:
475.Pp
476.Dl $ grep -c FOO myfile
477.It
478Same as above but ignoring case:
479.Pp
480.Dl $ grep -c -i FOO myfile
481.It
482Find all occurrences of the pattern
483.Ql .Pp
484at the beginning of a line:
485.Pp
486.Dl $ grep '^\e.Pp' myfile
487.Pp
488The apostrophes ensure the entire expression is evaluated by
489.Nm grep
490instead of by the user's shell.
491The caret
492.Ql ^
493matches the null string at the beginning of a line,
494and the
495.Ql \e
496escapes the
497.Ql \&. ,
498which would otherwise match any character.
499.It
500Find all lines in a file which do not contain the words
501.Sq foo
502or
503.Sq bar :
504.Pp
505.Dl $ grep -v -e 'foo' -e 'bar' myfile
506.It
507Peruse the file
508.Sq calendar
509looking for either 19, 20, or 25 using extended regular expressions:
510.Pp
511.Dl $ egrep '19|20|25' calendar
512.It
513Show matching lines and the name of the
514.Sq *.h
515files which contain the pattern
516.Sq FIXME .
517Do the search recursively from the
518.Pa /usr/src/sys/arm
519directory
520.Pp
521.Dl $ grep -H -R FIXME --include=*.h /usr/src/sys/arm/
522.It
523Same as above but show only the name of the matching file:
524.Pp
525.Dl $ grep -l -R FIXME --include=*.h /usr/src/sys/arm/
526.It
527Show lines containing the text
528.Sq foo .
529The matching part of the output is colored and every line is prefixed with
530the line number and the offset in the file for those lines that matched.
531.Pp
532.Dl $ grep -b --colour -n foo myfile
533.It
534Show lines that match the extended regular expression patterns read from the
535standard input:
536.Pp
537.Dl $ echo -e 'Free\enBSD\enAll.*reserved' | grep -E -f - myfile
538.It
539Show lines from the output of the
540.Xr pciconf 8
541command matching the specified extended regular expression along with
542three lines of leading context and one line of trailing context:
543.Pp
544.Dl $ pciconf -lv | grep -B3 -A1 -E 'class.*=.*storage'
545.It
546Suppress any output and use the exit status to show an appropriate message:
547.Pp
548.Dl $ grep -q foo myfile && echo File matches
549.El
550.Sh SEE ALSO
551.Xr ed 1 ,
552.Xr ex 1 ,
553.Xr sed 1 ,
554.Xr zgrep 1 ,
555.Xr re_format 7
556.Sh STANDARDS
557The
558.Nm
559utility is compliant with the
560.St -p1003.1-2008
561specification.
562.Pp
563The flags
564.Op Fl AaBbCDdGHhILmoPRSUVw
565are extensions to that specification, and the behaviour of the
566.Fl f
567flag when used with an empty pattern file is left undefined.
568.Pp
569All long options are provided for compatibility with
570GNU versions of this utility.
571.Pp
572Historic versions of the
573.Nm grep
574utility also supported the flags
575.Op Fl ruy .
576This implementation supports those options;
577however, their use is strongly discouraged.
578.Sh HISTORY
579The
580.Nm grep
581command first appeared in
582.At v6 .
583