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Grep Q&A

The grep command in Unix/Linux is a versatile tool for searching and manipulating text patterns in files, derived from the ed command g/re/p. It offers various options for different search functionalities, such as counting matches, ignoring case sensitivity, and displaying line numbers. The document provides syntax, examples, and distinctions between grep and egrep commands.

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8 views2 pages

Grep Q&A

The grep command in Unix/Linux is a versatile tool for searching and manipulating text patterns in files, derived from the ed command g/re/p. It offers various options for different search functionalities, such as counting matches, ignoring case sensitivity, and displaying line numbers. The document provides syntax, examples, and distinctions between grep and egrep commands.

Uploaded by

LE 406 uday
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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grep command [Global regular expression Print]

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The grep command in Unix/Linux is a powerful tool used for searching and
manipulating text patterns within files. Its name is derived from the ed (editor)
command g/re/p (globally search for a regular expression and print matching lines),
which reflects its core functionality. grep is widely used by programmers, system
administrators, and users alike for its efficiency and versatility in handling text
data. In this article, we will explore the various aspects of the grep command.

syntax: grep[option] pattern[filename]

cat filename | grep pattern


egrep command is used to search multiple regular patterns.

difference between grep and egrep


# egrep 'regular pattern and string pattern' filename
# grep "string pattern" filename.
-c--> display count of matching lines.
-h--> display all the matching lines
-l--> display all the filename in which pattern matches
-n--> display all the matching lines with line number
-v--> display all the non matching lines
-o--> display only the matching pattern
-e--> use multiple search patterns in single file.
^---> match the lines which starts with given pattern
char$-->end of the line with given char
-i--> ignores the case sensitive
-A{no.of lines} displays the lines after the search pattern eg: -A2
-B{no.of lines} displays the lines before the search pattern eg: -B1
-C{no.of lines} displays the lines after and before the search pattern eg: -C2

SOME EXAMPLES ON GREP COMMAND


-----------------------------
Case1: To ignore the upper and lower case while searching using grep command in
Linux
grep -i pattern filename
Case2: To search everything except given pattern/keyword using grep command in
Linux
grep -v pattern filename
Case3: To print how many times (count) given keyword present in file using grep
command in Linux
grep -c pattern filename
Case4: To search for exact match of given keyword in a file using grep command in
Linux
grep -w pattern filename
Case5: To print the line no. of matches of given keyword in a file using grep
command in Linux
grep -n pattern filename
Case6: To search a given keyword in multiple files using grep command in Linux
grep -i pattern file1 file2 file3
Case7: To suppress file names while search a given keyword in multiple files using
grep command in Linux
grep -h pattern file1 file2 file3
Case8: To search multiple keywords in a file using grep command in Linux
grep -ie pattern1 -e pattern2 filename
Case8: To search multiple keywords in multiple file using grep command in Linux
egrep 'p1|p2|p3' file1 file2 file3
Case9: To only print file names which matches given keywords using grep command in
Linux
grep -l pattern filename
Case10: To get the keywords/pattern from a file and match with a another file
using grep command in Linux
grep -f keyword.txt filename [the content of keyword.txt is the
pattern to search in filename]
Case11: To print the matching line which start with given keyword using grep
command in Linux
grep -i '^pattern' filename
Case12: To print the matching line which end with given keyword using grep command
in Linux
grep -i 'pattern$' filename
Case13: Suppose we have 100 files in a directory (dirA) and we need to search a
keyword in all the files using grep command in Linux
grep -i -R pattern dirA
Case14: We can use egrep command for the multiple keywords search using grep
command in Linux
egrep 'p1|p2|p3' filename
Case15: If you just wanna search but don't want to print on terminal or If you
want to suppress error message using grep command in Linux
grep -q pattern filename

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