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1 .TH PCREGREP 1 |
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2 .SH NAME |
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3 pcregrep - a grep with Perl-compatible regular expressions. |
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4 .SH SYNOPSIS |
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5 .B pcregrep [options] [long options] [pattern] [path1 path2 ...] |
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6 . |
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7 .SH DESCRIPTION |
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8 .rs |
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9 .sp |
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10 \fBpcregrep\fP searches files for character patterns, in the same way as other |
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11 grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library to support |
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12 patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of Perl 5. See |
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13 .\" HREF |
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14 \fBpcrepattern\fP(3) |
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15 .\" |
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16 for a full description of syntax and semantics of the regular expressions |
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17 that PCRE supports. |
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18 .P |
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19 Patterns, whether supplied on the command line or in a separate file, are given |
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20 without delimiters. For example: |
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21 .sp |
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22 pcregrep Thursday /etc/motd |
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23 .sp |
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24 If you attempt to use delimiters (for example, by surrounding a pattern with |
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25 slashes, as is common in Perl scripts), they are interpreted as part of the |
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26 pattern. Quotes can of course be used to delimit patterns on the command line |
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27 because they are interpreted by the shell, and indeed they are required if a |
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28 pattern contains white space or shell metacharacters. |
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29 .P |
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30 The first argument that follows any option settings is treated as the single |
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31 pattern to be matched when neither \fB-e\fP nor \fB-f\fP is present. |
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32 Conversely, when one or both of these options are used to specify patterns, all |
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33 arguments are treated as path names. At least one of \fB-e\fP, \fB-f\fP, or an |
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34 argument pattern must be provided. |
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35 .P |
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36 If no files are specified, \fBpcregrep\fP reads the standard input. The |
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37 standard input can also be referenced by a name consisting of a single hyphen. |
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38 For example: |
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39 .sp |
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40 pcregrep some-pattern /file1 - /file3 |
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41 .sp |
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42 By default, each line that matches a pattern is copied to the standard |
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43 output, and if there is more than one file, the file name is output at the |
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44 start of each line, followed by a colon. However, there are options that can |
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45 change how \fBpcregrep\fP behaves. In particular, the \fB-M\fP option makes it |
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46 possible to search for patterns that span line boundaries. What defines a line |
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47 boundary is controlled by the \fB-N\fP (\fB--newline\fP) option. |
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48 .P |
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49 Patterns are limited to 8K or BUFSIZ characters, whichever is the greater. |
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50 BUFSIZ is defined in \fB<stdio.h>\fP. When there is more than one pattern |
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51 (specified by the use of \fB-e\fP and/or \fB-f\fP), each pattern is applied to |
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52 each line in the order in which they are defined, except that all the \fB-e\fP |
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53 patterns are tried before the \fB-f\fP patterns. As soon as one pattern matches |
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54 (or fails to match when \fB-v\fP is used), no further patterns are considered. |
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55 .P |
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56 When \fB--only-matching\fP, \fB--file-offsets\fP, or \fB--line-offsets\fP |
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57 is used, the output is the part of the line that matched (either shown |
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58 literally, or as an offset). In this case, scanning resumes immediately |
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59 following the match, so that further matches on the same line can be found. |
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60 If there are multiple patterns, they are all tried on the remainder of the |
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61 line. However, patterns that follow the one that matched are not tried on the |
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62 earlier part of the line. |
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63 .P |
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64 If the \fBLC_ALL\fP or \fBLC_CTYPE\fP environment variable is set, |
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65 \fBpcregrep\fP uses the value to set a locale when calling the PCRE library. |
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66 The \fB--locale\fP option can be used to override this. |
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67 . |
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68 .SH "SUPPORT FOR COMPRESSED FILES" |
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69 .rs |
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70 .sp |
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71 It is possible to compile \fBpcregrep\fP so that it uses \fBlibz\fP or |
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72 \fBlibbz2\fP to read files whose names end in \fB.gz\fP or \fB.bz2\fP, |
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73 respectively. You can find out whether your binary has support for one or both |
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74 of these file types by running it with the \fB--help\fP option. If the |
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75 appropriate support is not present, files are treated as plain text. The |
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76 standard input is always so treated. |
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77 . |
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78 .SH OPTIONS |
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79 .rs |
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80 .TP 10 |
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81 \fB--\fP |
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82 This terminate the list of options. It is useful if the next item on the |
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83 command line starts with a hyphen but is not an option. This allows for the |
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84 processing of patterns and filenames that start with hyphens. |
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85 .TP |
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86 \fB-A\fP \fInumber\fP, \fB--after-context=\fP\fInumber\fP |
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87 Output \fInumber\fP lines of context after each matching line. If filenames |
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88 and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a |
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89 colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each |
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90 group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value |
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91 of \fInumber\fP is expected to be relatively small. However, \fBpcregrep\fP |
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92 guarantees to have up to 8K of following text available for context output. |
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93 .TP |
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94 \fB-B\fP \fInumber\fP, \fB--before-context=\fP\fInumber\fP |
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95 Output \fInumber\fP lines of context before each matching line. If filenames |
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96 and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a |
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97 colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each |
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98 group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value |
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99 of \fInumber\fP is expected to be relatively small. However, \fBpcregrep\fP |
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100 guarantees to have up to 8K of preceding text available for context output. |
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101 .TP |
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102 \fB-C\fP \fInumber\fP, \fB--context=\fP\fInumber\fP |
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103 Output \fInumber\fP lines of context both before and after each matching line. |
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104 This is equivalent to setting both \fB-A\fP and \fB-B\fP to the same value. |
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105 .TP |
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106 \fB-c\fP, \fB--count\fP |
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107 Do not output individual lines; instead just output a count of the number of |
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108 lines that would otherwise have been output. If several files are given, a |
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109 count is output for each of them. In this mode, the \fB-A\fP, \fB-B\fP, and |
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110 \fB-C\fP options are ignored. |
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111 .TP |
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112 \fB--colour\fP, \fB--color\fP |
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113 If this option is given without any data, it is equivalent to "--colour=auto". |
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114 If data is required, it must be given in the same shell item, separated by an |
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115 equals sign. |
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116 .TP |
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117 \fB--colour=\fP\fIvalue\fP, \fB--color=\fP\fIvalue\fP |
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118 This option specifies under what circumstances the part of a line that matched |
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119 a pattern should be coloured in the output. The value may be "never" (the |
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120 default), "always", or "auto". In the latter case, colouring happens only if |
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121 the standard output is connected to a terminal. The colour can be specified by |
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122 setting the environment variable PCREGREP_COLOUR or PCREGREP_COLOR. The value |
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123 of this variable should be a string of two numbers, separated by a semicolon. |
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124 They are copied directly into the control string for setting colour on a |
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125 terminal, so it is your responsibility to ensure that they make sense. If |
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126 neither of the environment variables is set, the default is "1;31", which gives |
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127 red. |
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128 .TP |
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129 \fB-D\fP \fIaction\fP, \fB--devices=\fP\fIaction\fP |
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130 If an input path is not a regular file or a directory, "action" specifies how |
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131 it is to be processed. Valid values are "read" (the default) or "skip" |
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132 (silently skip the path). |
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133 .TP |
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134 \fB-d\fP \fIaction\fP, \fB--directories=\fP\fIaction\fP |
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135 If an input path is a directory, "action" specifies how it is to be processed. |
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136 Valid values are "read" (the default), "recurse" (equivalent to the \fB-r\fP |
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137 option), or "skip" (silently skip the path). In the default case, directories |
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138 are read as if they were ordinary files. In some operating systems the effect |
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139 of reading a directory like this is an immediate end-of-file. |
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140 .TP |
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141 \fB-e\fP \fIpattern\fP, \fB--regex=\fP\fIpattern\fP, \fB--regexp=\fP\fIpattern\fP |
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142 Specify a pattern to be matched. This option can be used multiple times in |
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143 order to specify several patterns. It can also be used as a way of specifying a |
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144 single pattern that starts with a hyphen. When \fB-e\fP is used, no argument |
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145 pattern is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file |
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146 names. There is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. They are applied to each |
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147 line in the order in which they are defined until one matches (or fails to |
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148 match if \fB-v\fP is used). If \fB-f\fP is used with \fB-e\fP, the command line |
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149 patterns are matched first, followed by the patterns from the file, independent |
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150 of the order in which these options are specified. Note that multiple use of |
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151 \fB-e\fP is not the same as a single pattern with alternatives. For example, |
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152 X|Y finds the first character in a line that is X or Y, whereas if the two |
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153 patterns are given separately, \fBpcregrep\fP finds X if it is present, even if |
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154 it follows Y in the line. It finds Y only if there is no X in the line. This |
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155 really matters only if you are using \fB-o\fP to show the part(s) of the line |
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156 that matched. |
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157 .TP |
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158 \fB--exclude\fP=\fIpattern\fP |
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159 When \fBpcregrep\fP is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of |
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160 the \fB-r\fP (recursive search) option, any regular files whose names match the |
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161 pattern are excluded. Subdirectories are not excluded by this option; they are |
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162 searched recursively, subject to the \fB--exclude_dir\fP and |
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163 \fB--include_dir\fP options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is |
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164 matched against the final component of the file name (not the entire path). If |
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165 a file name matches both \fB--include\fP and \fB--exclude\fP, it is excluded. |
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166 There is no short form for this option. |
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167 .TP |
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168 \fB--exclude_dir\fP=\fIpattern\fP |
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169 When \fBpcregrep\fP is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence |
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170 of the \fB-r\fP (recursive search) option, any subdirectories whose names match |
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171 the pattern are excluded. (Note that the \fP--exclude\fP option does not affect |
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172 subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched |
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173 against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a |
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174 subdirectory name matches both \fB--include_dir\fP and \fB--exclude_dir\fP, it |
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175 is excluded. There is no short form for this option. |
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176 .TP |
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177 \fB-F\fP, \fB--fixed-strings\fP |
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178 Interpret each pattern as a list of fixed strings, separated by newlines, |
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179 instead of as a regular expression. The \fB-w\fP (match as a word) and \fB-x\fP |
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180 (match whole line) options can be used with \fB-F\fP. They apply to each of the |
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181 fixed strings. A line is selected if any of the fixed strings are found in it |
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182 (subject to \fB-w\fP or \fB-x\fP, if present). |
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183 .TP |
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184 \fB-f\fP \fIfilename\fP, \fB--file=\fP\fIfilename\fP |
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185 Read a number of patterns from the file, one per line, and match them against |
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186 each line of input. A data line is output if any of the patterns match it. The |
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187 filename can be given as "-" to refer to the standard input. When \fB-f\fP is |
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188 used, patterns specified on the command line using \fB-e\fP may also be |
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189 present; they are tested before the file's patterns. However, no other pattern |
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190 is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file names. There |
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191 is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. Trailing white space is removed from |
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192 each line, and blank lines are ignored. An empty file contains no patterns and |
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193 therefore matches nothing. See also the comments about multiple patterns versus |
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194 a single pattern with alternatives in the description of \fB-e\fP above. |
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195 .TP |
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196 \fB--file-offsets\fP |
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197 Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as an |
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198 offset from the start of the file and a length, separated by a comma. In this |
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199 mode, no context is shown. That is, the \fB-A\fP, \fB-B\fP, and \fB-C\fP |
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200 options are ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is |
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201 shown separately. This option is mutually exclusive with \fB--line-offsets\fP |
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202 and \fB--only-matching\fP. |
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203 .TP |
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204 \fB-H\fP, \fB--with-filename\fP |
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205 Force the inclusion of the filename at the start of output lines when searching |
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206 a single file. By default, the filename is not shown in this case. For matching |
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207 lines, the filename is followed by a colon and a space; for context lines, a |
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208 hyphen separator is used. If a line number is also being output, it follows the |
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209 file name without a space. |
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210 .TP |
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211 \fB-h\fP, \fB--no-filename\fP |
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212 Suppress the output filenames when searching multiple files. By default, |
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213 filenames are shown when multiple files are searched. For matching lines, the |
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214 filename is followed by a colon and a space; for context lines, a hyphen |
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215 separator is used. If a line number is also being output, it follows the file |
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216 name without a space. |
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217 .TP |
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218 \fB--help\fP |
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219 Output a help message, giving brief details of the command options and file |
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220 type support, and then exit. |
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221 .TP |
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222 \fB-i\fP, \fB--ignore-case\fP |
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223 Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons. |
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224 .TP |
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225 \fB--include\fP=\fIpattern\fP |
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226 When \fBpcregrep\fP is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of |
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227 the \fB-r\fP (recursive search) option, only those regular files whose names |
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228 match the pattern are included. Subdirectories are always included and searched |
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229 recursively, subject to the \fP--include_dir\fP and \fB--exclude_dir\fP |
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230 options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched against the |
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231 final component of the file name (not the entire path). If a file name matches |
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232 both \fB--include\fP and \fB--exclude\fP, it is excluded. There is no short |
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233 form for this option. |
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234 .TP |
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235 \fB--include_dir\fP=\fIpattern\fP |
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236 When \fBpcregrep\fP is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence |
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237 of the \fB-r\fP (recursive search) option, only those subdirectories whose |
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238 names match the pattern are included. (Note that the \fB--include\fP option |
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239 does not affect subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and |
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240 is matched against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a |
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241 subdirectory name matches both \fB--include_dir\fP and \fB--exclude_dir\fP, it |
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242 is excluded. There is no short form for this option. |
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243 .TP |
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244 \fB-L\fP, \fB--files-without-match\fP |
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245 Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files |
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246 that do not contain any lines that would have been output. Each file name is |
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247 output once, on a separate line. |
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248 .TP |
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249 \fB-l\fP, \fB--files-with-matches\fP |
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250 Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files |
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251 containing lines that would have been output. Each file name is output |
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252 once, on a separate line. Searching stops as soon as a matching line is found |
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253 in a file. |
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254 .TP |
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255 \fB--label\fP=\fIname\fP |
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256 This option supplies a name to be used for the standard input when file names |
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257 are being output. If not supplied, "(standard input)" is used. There is no |
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258 short form for this option. |
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259 .TP |
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260 \fB--line-offsets\fP |
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261 Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as a |
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262 line number, the offset from the start of the line, and a length. The line |
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263 number is terminated by a colon (as usual; see the \fB-n\fP option), and the |
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264 offset and length are separated by a comma. In this mode, no context is shown. |
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265 That is, the \fB-A\fP, \fB-B\fP, and \fB-C\fP options are ignored. If there is |
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266 more than one match in a line, each of them is shown separately. This option is |
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267 mutually exclusive with \fB--file-offsets\fP and \fB--only-matching\fP. |
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268 .TP |
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269 \fB--locale\fP=\fIlocale-name\fP |
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270 This option specifies a locale to be used for pattern matching. It overrides |
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271 the value in the \fBLC_ALL\fP or \fBLC_CTYPE\fP environment variables. If no |
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272 locale is specified, the PCRE library's default (usually the "C" locale) is |
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273 used. There is no short form for this option. |
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274 .TP |
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275 \fB-M\fP, \fB--multiline\fP |
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276 Allow patterns to match more than one line. When this option is given, patterns |
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277 may usefully contain literal newline characters and internal occurrences of ^ |
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278 and $ characters. The output for any one match may consist of more than one |
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279 line. When this option is set, the PCRE library is called in "multiline" mode. |
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280 There is a limit to the number of lines that can be matched, imposed by the way |
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281 that \fBpcregrep\fP buffers the input file as it scans it. However, |
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282 \fBpcregrep\fP ensures that at least 8K characters or the rest of the document |
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283 (whichever is the shorter) are available for forward matching, and similarly |
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284 the previous 8K characters (or all the previous characters, if fewer than 8K) |
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285 are guaranteed to be available for lookbehind assertions. |
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286 .TP |
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287 \fB-N\fP \fInewline-type\fP, \fB--newline=\fP\fInewline-type\fP |
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288 The PCRE library supports five different conventions for indicating |
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289 the ends of lines. They are the single-character sequences CR (carriage return) |
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290 and LF (linefeed), the two-character sequence CRLF, an "anycrlf" convention, |
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291 which recognizes any of the preceding three types, and an "any" convention, in |
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292 which any Unicode line ending sequence is assumed to end a line. The Unicode |
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293 sequences are the three just mentioned, plus VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF |
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294 (formfeed, U+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and |
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295 PS (paragraph separator, U+2029). |
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296 .sp |
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297 When the PCRE library is built, a default line-ending sequence is specified. |
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298 This is normally the standard sequence for the operating system. Unless |
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299 otherwise specified by this option, \fBpcregrep\fP uses the library's default. |
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300 The possible values for this option are CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY. This |
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301 makes it possible to use \fBpcregrep\fP on files that have come from other |
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302 environments without having to modify their line endings. If the data that is |
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303 being scanned does not agree with the convention set by this option, |
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304 \fBpcregrep\fP may behave in strange ways. |
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305 .TP |
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306 \fB-n\fP, \fB--line-number\fP |
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307 Precede each output line by its line number in the file, followed by a colon |
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308 and a space for matching lines or a hyphen and a space for context lines. If |
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309 the filename is also being output, it precedes the line number. This option is |
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310 forced if \fB--line-offsets\fP is used. |
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311 .TP |
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312 \fB-o\fP, \fB--only-matching\fP |
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313 Show only the part of the line that matched a pattern. In this mode, no |
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314 context is shown. That is, the \fB-A\fP, \fB-B\fP, and \fB-C\fP options are |
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315 ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is shown |
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316 separately. If \fB-o\fP is combined with \fB-v\fP (invert the sense of the |
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317 match to find non-matching lines), no output is generated, but the return code |
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318 is set appropriately. This option is mutually exclusive with |
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319 \fB--file-offsets\fP and \fB--line-offsets\fP. |
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320 .TP |
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321 \fB-q\fP, \fB--quiet\fP |
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322 Work quietly, that is, display nothing except error messages. The exit |
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323 status indicates whether or not any matches were found. |
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324 .TP |
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325 \fB-r\fP, \fB--recursive\fP |
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326 If any given path is a directory, recursively scan the files it contains, |
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327 taking note of any \fB--include\fP and \fB--exclude\fP settings. By default, a |
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328 directory is read as a normal file; in some operating systems this gives an |
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329 immediate end-of-file. This option is a shorthand for setting the \fB-d\fP |
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330 option to "recurse". |
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331 .TP |
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332 \fB-s\fP, \fB--no-messages\fP |
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333 Suppress error messages about non-existent or unreadable files. Such files are |
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334 quietly skipped. However, the return code is still 2, even if matches were |
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335 found in other files. |
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336 .TP |
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337 \fB-u\fP, \fB--utf-8\fP |
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338 Operate in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE has been compiled |
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339 with UTF-8 support. Both patterns and subject lines must be valid strings of |
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340 UTF-8 characters. |
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341 .TP |
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342 \fB-V\fP, \fB--version\fP |
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343 Write the version numbers of \fBpcregrep\fP and the PCRE library that is being |
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344 used to the standard error stream. |
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345 .TP |
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346 \fB-v\fP, \fB--invert-match\fP |
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347 Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which do \fInot\fP match any of |
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348 the patterns are the ones that are found. |
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349 .TP |
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350 \fB-w\fP, \fB--word-regex\fP, \fB--word-regexp\fP |
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351 Force the patterns to match only whole words. This is equivalent to having \eb |
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352 at the start and end of the pattern. |
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353 .TP |
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354 \fB-x\fP, \fB--line-regex\fP, \fB--line-regexp\fP |
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355 Force the patterns to be anchored (each must start matching at the beginning of |
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356 a line) and in addition, require them to match entire lines. This is |
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357 equivalent to having ^ and $ characters at the start and end of each |
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358 alternative branch in every pattern. |
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359 . |
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360 . |
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361 .SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES" |
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362 .rs |
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363 .sp |
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364 The environment variables \fBLC_ALL\fP and \fBLC_CTYPE\fP are examined, in that |
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365 order, for a locale. The first one that is set is used. This can be overridden |
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366 by the \fB--locale\fP option. If no locale is set, the PCRE library's default |
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367 (usually the "C" locale) is used. |
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368 . |
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369 . |
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370 .SH "NEWLINES" |
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371 .rs |
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372 .sp |
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373 The \fB-N\fP (\fB--newline\fP) option allows \fBpcregrep\fP to scan files with |
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374 different newline conventions from the default. However, the setting of this |
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375 option does not affect the way in which \fBpcregrep\fP writes information to |
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376 the standard error and output streams. It uses the string "\en" in C |
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377 \fBprintf()\fP calls to indicate newlines, relying on the C I/O library to |
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378 convert this to an appropriate sequence if the output is sent to a file. |
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379 . |
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380 . |
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381 .SH "OPTIONS COMPATIBILITY" |
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382 .rs |
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383 .sp |
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384 The majority of short and long forms of \fBpcregrep\fP's options are the same |
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385 as in the GNU \fBgrep\fP program. Any long option of the form |
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386 \fB--xxx-regexp\fP (GNU terminology) is also available as \fB--xxx-regex\fP |
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387 (PCRE terminology). However, the \fB--locale\fP, \fB-M\fP, \fB--multiline\fP, |
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388 \fB-u\fP, and \fB--utf-8\fP options are specific to \fBpcregrep\fP. |
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389 . |
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390 . |
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391 .SH "OPTIONS WITH DATA" |
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392 .rs |
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393 .sp |
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394 There are four different ways in which an option with data can be specified. |
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395 If a short form option is used, the data may follow immediately, or in the next |
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396 command line item. For example: |
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397 .sp |
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398 -f/some/file |
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399 -f /some/file |
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400 .sp |
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401 If a long form option is used, the data may appear in the same command line |
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402 item, separated by an equals character, or (with one exception) it may appear |
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403 in the next command line item. For example: |
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404 .sp |
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405 --file=/some/file |
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406 --file /some/file |
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407 .sp |
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408 Note, however, that if you want to supply a file name beginning with ~ as data |
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409 in a shell command, and have the shell expand ~ to a home directory, you must |
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410 separate the file name from the option, because the shell does not treat ~ |
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411 specially unless it is at the start of an item. |
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412 .P |
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413 The exception to the above is the \fB--colour\fP (or \fB--color\fP) option, |
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414 for which the data is optional. If this option does have data, it must be given |
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415 in the first form, using an equals character. Otherwise it will be assumed that |
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416 it has no data. |
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417 . |
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418 . |
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419 .SH "MATCHING ERRORS" |
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420 .rs |
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421 .sp |
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422 It is possible to supply a regular expression that takes a very long time to |
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423 fail to match certain lines. Such patterns normally involve nested indefinite |
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424 repeats, for example: (a+)*\ed when matched against a line of a's with no final |
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425 digit. The PCRE matching function has a resource limit that causes it to abort |
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426 in these circumstances. If this happens, \fBpcregrep\fP outputs an error |
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427 message and the line that caused the problem to the standard error stream. If |
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428 there are more than 20 such errors, \fBpcregrep\fP gives up. |
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429 . |
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430 . |
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431 .SH DIAGNOSTICS |
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432 .rs |
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433 .sp |
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434 Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches were found, and 2 |
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435 for syntax errors and non-existent or inacessible files (even if matches were |
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436 found in other files) or too many matching errors. Using the \fB-s\fP option to |
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437 suppress error messages about inaccessble files does not affect the return |
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438 code. |
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439 . |
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440 . |
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441 .SH "SEE ALSO" |
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442 .rs |
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443 .sp |
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444 \fBpcrepattern\fP(3), \fBpcretest\fP(1). |
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445 . |
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446 . |
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447 .SH AUTHOR |
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448 .rs |
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449 .sp |
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450 .nf |
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451 Philip Hazel |
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452 University Computing Service |
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453 Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. |
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454 .fi |
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455 . |
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456 . |
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457 .SH REVISION |
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458 .rs |
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459 .sp |
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460 .nf |
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461 Last updated: 08 March 2008 |
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462 Copyright (c) 1997-2008 University of Cambridge. |
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463 .fi |