xref: /freebsd/usr.bin/grep/grep.1 (revision c66ec88fed842fbaad62c30d510644ceb7bd2d71)
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31.\"	@(#)grep.1	8.3 (Berkeley) 4/18/94
32.\"
33.Dd November 19, 2020
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 ) .
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