trunk/doc/pcregrep.txt

PCREGREP(1)                                                        PCREGREP(1)


NAME
       pcregrep - a grep with Perl-compatible regular expressions.

SYNOPSIS
       pcregrep [-Vcfhilnrsuvx] [long options] [pattern] [file1 file2 ...]


DESCRIPTION

       pcregrep  searches  files  for  character  patterns, in the same way as
       other grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library
       to support patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of
       Perl 5. See pcrepattern for a full description of syntax and  semantics
       of the regular expressions that PCRE supports.

       A pattern must be specified on the command line unless the -f option is
       used (see below).

       If no files are  specified,  pcregrep  reads  the  standard  input.  By
       default,  each  line that matches the pattern is copied to the standard
       output, and if there is more than one file, the file  name  is  printed
       before  each line of output. However, there are options that can change
       how pcregrep behaves.

       Lines are limited to BUFSIZ characters. BUFSIZ is defined in <stdio.h>.
       The newline character is removed from the end of each line before it is
       matched against the pattern.


OPTIONS


       -V        Write the version number of the PCRE library  being  used  to
                 the standard error stream.

       -c        Do  not print individual lines; instead just print a count of
                 the number of lines that would otherwise have  been  printed.
                 If  several  files  are given, a count is printed for each of
                 them.

       -ffilename
                 Read a number of patterns from the file, one  per  line,  and
                 match  all of them against each line of input. A line is out-
                 put if any of the patterns match it.  When  -f  is  used,  no
                 pattern  is  taken  from  the command line; all arguments are
                 treated as file names. There is a maximum  of  100  patterns.
                 Trailing white space is removed, and blank lines are ignored.
                 An empty file contains  no  patterns  and  therefore  matches
                 nothing.

       -h        Suppress printing of filenames when searching multiple files.

       -i        Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons.

       -l        Instead of printing lines from  the  files,  just  print  the
                 names  of  the  files  containing  lines that would have been
                 printed. Each file name is printed once, on a separate  line.

       -n        Precede each line by its line number in the file.

       -r        If  any  file  is  a directory, recursively scan the files it
                 contains. Without -r a directory is scanned as a normal file.

       -s        Work  silently,  that  is,  display nothing except error mes-
                 sages.  The exit status indicates whether  any  matches  were
                 found.

       -u        Operate  in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE
                 has been compiled with UTF-8 support. Both  the  pattern  and
                 each  subject  line  are assumed to be valid strings of UTF-8
                 characters.

       -v        Invert the sense of the match, so that  lines  which  do  not
                 match the pattern are now the ones that are found.

       -x        Force  the  pattern to be anchored (it must start matching at
                 the beginning of the line) and in  addition,  require  it  to
                 match  the  entire line. This is equivalent to having ^ and $
                 characters at the start and end of each alternative branch in
                 the regular expression.


LONG OPTIONS

       Long  forms  of all the options are available, as in GNU grep. They are
       shown in the following table:

         -c   --count
         -h   --no-filename
         -i   --ignore-case
         -l   --files-with-matches
         -n   --line-number
         -r   --recursive
         -s   --no-messages
         -u   --utf-8
         -V   --version
         -v   --invert-match
         -x   --line-regex
         -x   --line-regexp

       In addition, --file=filename is equivalent to  -ffilename,  and  --help
       shows the list of options and then exits.


DIAGNOSTICS

       Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches were found,
       and 2 for syntax errors or inacessible  files  (even  if  matches  were
       found).


AUTHOR

       Philip Hazel <ph10@cam.ac.uk>
       University Computing Service
       Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.

Last updated: 03 February 2003
Copyright (c) 1997-2003 University of Cambridge.
1	PCREGREP(1) PCREGREP(1)
2
3
4
5	NAME
6	pcregrep - a grep with Perl-compatible regular expressions.
7
8	SYNOPSIS
9	pcregrep [-Vcfhilnrsuvx] [long options] [pattern] [file1 file2 ...]
10
11
12	DESCRIPTION
13
14	pcregrep searches files for character patterns, in the same way as
15	other grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library
16	to support patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of
17	Perl 5. See pcrepattern for a full description of syntax and semantics
18	of the regular expressions that PCRE supports.
19
20	A pattern must be specified on the command line unless the -f option is
21	used (see below).
22
23	If no files are specified, pcregrep reads the standard input. By
24	default, each line that matches the pattern is copied to the standard
25	output, and if there is more than one file, the file name is printed
26	before each line of output. However, there are options that can change
27	how pcregrep behaves.
28
29	Lines are limited to BUFSIZ characters. BUFSIZ is defined in <stdio.h>.
30	The newline character is removed from the end of each line before it is
31	matched against the pattern.
32
33
34	OPTIONS
35
36
37	-V Write the version number of the PCRE library being used to
38	the standard error stream.
39
40	-c Do not print individual lines; instead just print a count of
41	the number of lines that would otherwise have been printed.
42	If several files are given, a count is printed for each of
43	them.
44
45	-ffilename
46	Read a number of patterns from the file, one per line, and
47	match all of them against each line of input. A line is out-
48	put if any of the patterns match it. When -f is used, no
49	pattern is taken from the command line; all arguments are
50	treated as file names. There is a maximum of 100 patterns.
51	Trailing white space is removed, and blank lines are ignored.
52	An empty file contains no patterns and therefore matches
53	nothing.
54
55	-h Suppress printing of filenames when searching multiple files.
56
57	-i Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons.
58
59	-l Instead of printing lines from the files, just print the
60	names of the files containing lines that would have been
61	printed. Each file name is printed once, on a separate line.
62
63	-n Precede each line by its line number in the file.
64
65	-r If any file is a directory, recursively scan the files it
66	contains. Without -r a directory is scanned as a normal file.
67
68	-s Work silently, that is, display nothing except error mes-
69	sages. The exit status indicates whether any matches were
70	found.
71
72	-u Operate in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE
73	has been compiled with UTF-8 support. Both the pattern and
74	each subject line are assumed to be valid strings of UTF-8
75	characters.
76
77	-v Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which do not
78	match the pattern are now the ones that are found.
79
80	-x Force the pattern to be anchored (it must start matching at
81	the beginning of the line) and in addition, require it to
82	match the entire line. This is equivalent to having ^ and $
83	characters at the start and end of each alternative branch in
84	the regular expression.
85
86
87	LONG OPTIONS
88
89	Long forms of all the options are available, as in GNU grep. They are
90	shown in the following table:
91
92	-c --count
93	-h --no-filename
94	-i --ignore-case
95	-l --files-with-matches
96	-n --line-number
97	-r --recursive
98	-s --no-messages
99	-u --utf-8
100	-V --version
101	-v --invert-match
102	-x --line-regex
103	-x --line-regexp
104
105	In addition, --file=filename is equivalent to -ffilename, and --help
106	shows the list of options and then exits.
107
108
109	DIAGNOSTICS
110
111	Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches were found,
112	and 2 for syntax errors or inacessible files (even if matches were
113	found).
114
115
116
117	AUTHOR
118
119	Philip Hazel <ph10@cam.ac.uk>
120	University Computing Service
121	Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
122
123	Last updated: 03 February 2003
124	Copyright (c) 1997-2003 University of Cambridge.