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1 <html> |
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2 <head> |
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3 <title>pcregrep specification</title> |
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4 </head> |
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5 <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#00005A" link="#0066FF" alink="#3399FF" vlink="#2222BB"> |
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6 <h1>pcregrep man page</h1> |
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7 <p> |
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8 Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>. |
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9 </p> |
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10 <p> |
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11 This page is part of the PCRE HTML documentation. It was generated automatically |
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12 from the original man page. If there is any nonsense in it, please consult the |
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13 man page, in case the conversion went wrong. |
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14 <br> |
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15 <ul> |
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16 <li><a name="TOC1" href="#SEC1">SYNOPSIS</a> |
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17 <li><a name="TOC2" href="#SEC2">DESCRIPTION</a> |
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18 <li><a name="TOC3" href="#SEC3">SUPPORT FOR COMPRESSED FILES</a> |
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19 <li><a name="TOC4" href="#SEC4">OPTIONS</a> |
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20 <li><a name="TOC5" href="#SEC5">ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES</a> |
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21 <li><a name="TOC6" href="#SEC6">NEWLINES</a> |
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22 <li><a name="TOC7" href="#SEC7">OPTIONS COMPATIBILITY</a> |
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23 <li><a name="TOC8" href="#SEC8">OPTIONS WITH DATA</a> |
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24 <li><a name="TOC9" href="#SEC9">MATCHING ERRORS</a> |
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25 <li><a name="TOC10" href="#SEC10">DIAGNOSTICS</a> |
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26 <li><a name="TOC11" href="#SEC11">SEE ALSO</a> |
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27 <li><a name="TOC12" href="#SEC12">AUTHOR</a> |
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28 <li><a name="TOC13" href="#SEC13">REVISION</a> |
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29 </ul> |
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30 <br><a name="SEC1" href="#TOC1">SYNOPSIS</a><br> |
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31 <P> |
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32 <b>pcregrep [options] [long options] [pattern] [path1 path2 ...]</b> |
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33 </P> |
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34 <br><a name="SEC2" href="#TOC1">DESCRIPTION</a><br> |
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35 <P> |
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36 <b>pcregrep</b> searches files for character patterns, in the same way as other |
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37 grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library to support |
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38 patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of Perl 5. See |
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39 <a href="pcrepattern.html"><b>pcrepattern</b>(3)</a> |
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40 for a full description of syntax and semantics of the regular expressions |
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41 that PCRE supports. |
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42 </P> |
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43 <P> |
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44 Patterns, whether supplied on the command line or in a separate file, are given |
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45 without delimiters. For example: |
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46 <pre> |
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47 pcregrep Thursday /etc/motd |
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48 </pre> |
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49 If you attempt to use delimiters (for example, by surrounding a pattern with |
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50 slashes, as is common in Perl scripts), they are interpreted as part of the |
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51 pattern. Quotes can of course be used to delimit patterns on the command line |
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52 because they are interpreted by the shell, and indeed they are required if a |
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53 pattern contains white space or shell metacharacters. |
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54 </P> |
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55 <P> |
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56 The first argument that follows any option settings is treated as the single |
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57 pattern to be matched when neither <b>-e</b> nor <b>-f</b> is present. |
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58 Conversely, when one or both of these options are used to specify patterns, all |
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59 arguments are treated as path names. At least one of <b>-e</b>, <b>-f</b>, or an |
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60 argument pattern must be provided. |
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61 </P> |
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62 <P> |
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63 If no files are specified, <b>pcregrep</b> reads the standard input. The |
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64 standard input can also be referenced by a name consisting of a single hyphen. |
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65 For example: |
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66 <pre> |
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67 pcregrep some-pattern /file1 - /file3 |
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68 </pre> |
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69 By default, each line that matches a pattern is copied to the standard |
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70 output, and if there is more than one file, the file name is output at the |
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71 start of each line, followed by a colon. However, there are options that can |
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72 change how <b>pcregrep</b> behaves. In particular, the <b>-M</b> option makes it |
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73 possible to search for patterns that span line boundaries. What defines a line |
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74 boundary is controlled by the <b>-N</b> (<b>--newline</b>) option. |
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75 </P> |
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76 <P> |
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77 Patterns are limited to 8K or BUFSIZ characters, whichever is the greater. |
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78 BUFSIZ is defined in <b><stdio.h></b>. When there is more than one pattern |
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79 (specified by the use of <b>-e</b> and/or <b>-f</b>), each pattern is applied to |
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80 each line in the order in which they are defined, except that all the <b>-e</b> |
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81 patterns are tried before the <b>-f</b> patterns. As soon as one pattern matches |
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82 (or fails to match when <b>-v</b> is used), no further patterns are considered. |
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83 </P> |
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84 <P> |
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85 When <b>--only-matching</b>, <b>--file-offsets</b>, or <b>--line-offsets</b> |
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86 is used, the output is the part of the line that matched (either shown |
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87 literally, or as an offset). In this case, scanning resumes immediately |
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88 following the match, so that further matches on the same line can be found. |
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89 If there are multiple patterns, they are all tried on the remainder of the |
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90 line. However, patterns that follow the one that matched are not tried on the |
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91 earlier part of the line. |
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92 </P> |
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93 <P> |
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94 If the <b>LC_ALL</b> or <b>LC_CTYPE</b> environment variable is set, |
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95 <b>pcregrep</b> uses the value to set a locale when calling the PCRE library. |
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96 The <b>--locale</b> option can be used to override this. |
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97 </P> |
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98 <br><a name="SEC3" href="#TOC1">SUPPORT FOR COMPRESSED FILES</a><br> |
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99 <P> |
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100 It is possible to compile <b>pcregrep</b> so that it uses <b>libz</b> or |
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101 <b>libbz2</b> to read files whose names end in <b>.gz</b> or <b>.bz2</b>, |
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102 respectively. You can find out whether your binary has support for one or both |
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103 of these file types by running it with the <b>--help</b> option. If the |
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104 appropriate support is not present, files are treated as plain text. The |
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105 standard input is always so treated. |
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106 </P> |
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107 <br><a name="SEC4" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS</a><br> |
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108 <P> |
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109 <b>--</b> |
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110 This terminate the list of options. It is useful if the next item on the |
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111 command line starts with a hyphen but is not an option. This allows for the |
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112 processing of patterns and filenames that start with hyphens. |
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113 </P> |
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114 <P> |
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115 <b>-A</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--after-context=</b><i>number</i> |
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116 Output <i>number</i> lines of context after each matching line. If filenames |
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117 and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a |
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118 colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each |
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119 group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value |
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120 of <i>number</i> is expected to be relatively small. However, <b>pcregrep</b> |
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121 guarantees to have up to 8K of following text available for context output. |
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122 </P> |
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123 <P> |
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124 <b>-B</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--before-context=</b><i>number</i> |
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125 Output <i>number</i> lines of context before each matching line. If filenames |
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126 and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a |
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127 colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each |
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128 group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value |
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129 of <i>number</i> is expected to be relatively small. However, <b>pcregrep</b> |
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130 guarantees to have up to 8K of preceding text available for context output. |
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131 </P> |
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132 <P> |
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133 <b>-C</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--context=</b><i>number</i> |
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134 Output <i>number</i> lines of context both before and after each matching line. |
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135 This is equivalent to setting both <b>-A</b> and <b>-B</b> to the same value. |
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136 </P> |
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137 <P> |
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138 <b>-c</b>, <b>--count</b> |
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139 Do not output individual lines; instead just output a count of the number of |
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140 lines that would otherwise have been output. If several files are given, a |
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141 count is output for each of them. In this mode, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and |
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142 <b>-C</b> options are ignored. |
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143 </P> |
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144 <P> |
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145 <b>--colour</b>, <b>--color</b> |
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146 If this option is given without any data, it is equivalent to "--colour=auto". |
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147 If data is required, it must be given in the same shell item, separated by an |
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148 equals sign. |
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149 </P> |
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150 <P> |
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151 <b>--colour=</b><i>value</i>, <b>--color=</b><i>value</i> |
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152 This option specifies under what circumstances the part of a line that matched |
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153 a pattern should be coloured in the output. The value may be "never" (the |
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154 default), "always", or "auto". In the latter case, colouring happens only if |
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155 the standard output is connected to a terminal. The colour can be specified by |
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156 setting the environment variable PCREGREP_COLOUR or PCREGREP_COLOR. The value |
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157 of this variable should be a string of two numbers, separated by a semicolon. |
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158 They are copied directly into the control string for setting colour on a |
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159 terminal, so it is your responsibility to ensure that they make sense. If |
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160 neither of the environment variables is set, the default is "1;31", which gives |
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161 red. |
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162 </P> |
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163 <P> |
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164 <b>-D</b> <i>action</i>, <b>--devices=</b><i>action</i> |
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165 If an input path is not a regular file or a directory, "action" specifies how |
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166 it is to be processed. Valid values are "read" (the default) or "skip" |
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167 (silently skip the path). |
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168 </P> |
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169 <P> |
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170 <b>-d</b> <i>action</i>, <b>--directories=</b><i>action</i> |
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171 If an input path is a directory, "action" specifies how it is to be processed. |
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172 Valid values are "read" (the default), "recurse" (equivalent to the <b>-r</b> |
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173 option), or "skip" (silently skip the path). In the default case, directories |
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174 are read as if they were ordinary files. In some operating systems the effect |
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175 of reading a directory like this is an immediate end-of-file. |
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176 </P> |
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177 <P> |
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178 <b>-e</b> <i>pattern</i>, <b>--regex=</b><i>pattern</i>, <b>--regexp=</b><i>pattern</i> |
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179 Specify a pattern to be matched. This option can be used multiple times in |
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180 order to specify several patterns. It can also be used as a way of specifying a |
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181 single pattern that starts with a hyphen. When <b>-e</b> is used, no argument |
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182 pattern is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file |
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183 names. There is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. They are applied to each |
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184 line in the order in which they are defined until one matches (or fails to |
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185 match if <b>-v</b> is used). If <b>-f</b> is used with <b>-e</b>, the command line |
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186 patterns are matched first, followed by the patterns from the file, independent |
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187 of the order in which these options are specified. Note that multiple use of |
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188 <b>-e</b> is not the same as a single pattern with alternatives. For example, |
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189 X|Y finds the first character in a line that is X or Y, whereas if the two |
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190 patterns are given separately, <b>pcregrep</b> finds X if it is present, even if |
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191 it follows Y in the line. It finds Y only if there is no X in the line. This |
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192 really matters only if you are using <b>-o</b> to show the part(s) of the line |
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193 that matched. |
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194 </P> |
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195 <P> |
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196 <b>--exclude</b>=<i>pattern</i> |
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197 When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of |
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198 the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, any regular files whose names match the |
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199 pattern are excluded. Subdirectories are not excluded by this option; they are |
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200 searched recursively, subject to the <b>--exclude_dir</b> and |
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201 <b>--include_dir</b> options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is |
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202 matched against the final component of the file name (not the entire path). If |
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203 a file name matches both <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b>, it is excluded. |
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204 There is no short form for this option. |
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205 </P> |
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206 <P> |
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207 <b>--exclude_dir</b>=<i>pattern</i> |
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208 When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence |
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209 of the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, any subdirectories whose names match |
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210 the pattern are excluded. (Note that the \fP--exclude\fP option does not affect |
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211 subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched |
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212 against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a |
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213 subdirectory name matches both <b>--include_dir</b> and <b>--exclude_dir</b>, it |
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214 is excluded. There is no short form for this option. |
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215 </P> |
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216 <P> |
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217 <b>-F</b>, <b>--fixed-strings</b> |
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218 Interpret each pattern as a list of fixed strings, separated by newlines, |
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219 instead of as a regular expression. The <b>-w</b> (match as a word) and <b>-x</b> |
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220 (match whole line) options can be used with <b>-F</b>. They apply to each of the |
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221 fixed strings. A line is selected if any of the fixed strings are found in it |
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222 (subject to <b>-w</b> or <b>-x</b>, if present). |
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223 </P> |
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224 <P> |
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225 <b>-f</b> <i>filename</i>, <b>--file=</b><i>filename</i> |
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226 Read a number of patterns from the file, one per line, and match them against |
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227 each line of input. A data line is output if any of the patterns match it. The |
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228 filename can be given as "-" to refer to the standard input. When <b>-f</b> is |
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229 used, patterns specified on the command line using <b>-e</b> may also be |
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230 present; they are tested before the file's patterns. However, no other pattern |
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231 is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file names. There |
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232 is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. Trailing white space is removed from |
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233 each line, and blank lines are ignored. An empty file contains no patterns and |
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234 therefore matches nothing. See also the comments about multiple patterns versus |
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235 a single pattern with alternatives in the description of <b>-e</b> above. |
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236 </P> |
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237 <P> |
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238 <b>--file-offsets</b> |
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239 Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as an |
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240 offset from the start of the file and a length, separated by a comma. In this |
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241 mode, no context is shown. That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b> |
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242 options are ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is |
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243 shown separately. This option is mutually exclusive with <b>--line-offsets</b> |
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244 and <b>--only-matching</b>. |
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245 </P> |
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246 <P> |
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247 <b>-H</b>, <b>--with-filename</b> |
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248 Force the inclusion of the filename at the start of output lines when searching |
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249 a single file. By default, the filename is not shown in this case. For matching |
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250 lines, the filename is followed by a colon and a space; for context lines, a |
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251 hyphen separator is used. If a line number is also being output, it follows the |
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252 file name without a space. |
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253 </P> |
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254 <P> |
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255 <b>-h</b>, <b>--no-filename</b> |
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256 Suppress the output filenames when searching multiple files. By default, |
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257 filenames are shown when multiple files are searched. For matching lines, the |
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258 filename is followed by a colon and a space; for context lines, a hyphen |
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259 separator is used. If a line number is also being output, it follows the file |
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260 name without a space. |
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261 </P> |
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262 <P> |
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263 <b>--help</b> |
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264 Output a help message, giving brief details of the command options and file |
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265 type support, and then exit. |
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266 </P> |
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267 <P> |
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268 <b>-i</b>, <b>--ignore-case</b> |
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269 Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons. |
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270 </P> |
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271 <P> |
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272 <b>--include</b>=<i>pattern</i> |
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273 When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of |
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274 the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, only those regular files whose names |
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275 match the pattern are included. Subdirectories are always included and searched |
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276 recursively, subject to the \fP--include_dir\fP and <b>--exclude_dir</b> |
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277 options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched against the |
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278 final component of the file name (not the entire path). If a file name matches |
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279 both <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b>, it is excluded. There is no short |
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280 form for this option. |
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281 </P> |
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282 <P> |
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283 <b>--include_dir</b>=<i>pattern</i> |
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284 When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence |
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285 of the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, only those subdirectories whose |
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286 names match the pattern are included. (Note that the <b>--include</b> option |
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287 does not affect subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and |
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288 is matched against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a |
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289 subdirectory name matches both <b>--include_dir</b> and <b>--exclude_dir</b>, it |
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290 is excluded. There is no short form for this option. |
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291 </P> |
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292 <P> |
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293 <b>-L</b>, <b>--files-without-match</b> |
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294 Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files |
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295 that do not contain any lines that would have been output. Each file name is |
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296 output once, on a separate line. |
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297 </P> |
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298 <P> |
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299 <b>-l</b>, <b>--files-with-matches</b> |
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300 Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files |
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301 containing lines that would have been output. Each file name is output |
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302 once, on a separate line. Searching stops as soon as a matching line is found |
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303 in a file. |
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304 </P> |
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305 <P> |
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306 <b>--label</b>=<i>name</i> |
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307 This option supplies a name to be used for the standard input when file names |
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308 are being output. If not supplied, "(standard input)" is used. There is no |
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309 short form for this option. |
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310 </P> |
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311 <P> |
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312 <b>--line-offsets</b> |
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313 Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as a |
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314 line number, the offset from the start of the line, and a length. The line |
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315 number is terminated by a colon (as usual; see the <b>-n</b> option), and the |
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316 offset and length are separated by a comma. In this mode, no context is shown. |
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317 That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b> options are ignored. If there is |
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318 more than one match in a line, each of them is shown separately. This option is |
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319 mutually exclusive with <b>--file-offsets</b> and <b>--only-matching</b>. |
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320 </P> |
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321 <P> |
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322 <b>--locale</b>=<i>locale-name</i> |
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323 This option specifies a locale to be used for pattern matching. It overrides |
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324 the value in the <b>LC_ALL</b> or <b>LC_CTYPE</b> environment variables. If no |
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325 locale is specified, the PCRE library's default (usually the "C" locale) is |
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326 used. There is no short form for this option. |
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327 </P> |
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328 <P> |
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329 <b>-M</b>, <b>--multiline</b> |
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330 Allow patterns to match more than one line. When this option is given, patterns |
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331 may usefully contain literal newline characters and internal occurrences of ^ |
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332 and $ characters. The output for any one match may consist of more than one |
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333 line. When this option is set, the PCRE library is called in "multiline" mode. |
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334 There is a limit to the number of lines that can be matched, imposed by the way |
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335 that <b>pcregrep</b> buffers the input file as it scans it. However, |
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336 <b>pcregrep</b> ensures that at least 8K characters or the rest of the document |
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337 (whichever is the shorter) are available for forward matching, and similarly |
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338 the previous 8K characters (or all the previous characters, if fewer than 8K) |
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339 are guaranteed to be available for lookbehind assertions. |
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340 </P> |
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341 <P> |
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342 <b>-N</b> <i>newline-type</i>, <b>--newline=</b><i>newline-type</i> |
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343 The PCRE library supports five different conventions for indicating |
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344 the ends of lines. They are the single-character sequences CR (carriage return) |
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345 and LF (linefeed), the two-character sequence CRLF, an "anycrlf" convention, |
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346 which recognizes any of the preceding three types, and an "any" convention, in |
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347 which any Unicode line ending sequence is assumed to end a line. The Unicode |
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348 sequences are the three just mentioned, plus VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF |
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349 (formfeed, U+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and |
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350 PS (paragraph separator, U+2029). |
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351 <br> |
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352 <br> |
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353 When the PCRE library is built, a default line-ending sequence is specified. |
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354 This is normally the standard sequence for the operating system. Unless |
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355 otherwise specified by this option, <b>pcregrep</b> uses the library's default. |
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356 The possible values for this option are CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY. This |
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357 makes it possible to use <b>pcregrep</b> on files that have come from other |
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358 environments without having to modify their line endings. If the data that is |
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359 being scanned does not agree with the convention set by this option, |
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360 <b>pcregrep</b> may behave in strange ways. |
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361 </P> |
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362 <P> |
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363 <b>-n</b>, <b>--line-number</b> |
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364 Precede each output line by its line number in the file, followed by a colon |
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365 and a space for matching lines or a hyphen and a space for context lines. If |
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366 the filename is also being output, it precedes the line number. This option is |
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367 forced if <b>--line-offsets</b> is used. |
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368 </P> |
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369 <P> |
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370 <b>-o</b>, <b>--only-matching</b> |
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371 Show only the part of the line that matched a pattern. In this mode, no |
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372 context is shown. That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b> options are |
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373 ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is shown |
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374 separately. If <b>-o</b> is combined with <b>-v</b> (invert the sense of the |
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375 match to find non-matching lines), no output is generated, but the return code |
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376 is set appropriately. This option is mutually exclusive with |
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377 <b>--file-offsets</b> and <b>--line-offsets</b>. |
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378 </P> |
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379 <P> |
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380 <b>-q</b>, <b>--quiet</b> |
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381 Work quietly, that is, display nothing except error messages. The exit |
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382 status indicates whether or not any matches were found. |
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383 </P> |
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384 <P> |
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385 <b>-r</b>, <b>--recursive</b> |
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386 If any given path is a directory, recursively scan the files it contains, |
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387 taking note of any <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b> settings. By default, a |
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388 directory is read as a normal file; in some operating systems this gives an |
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389 immediate end-of-file. This option is a shorthand for setting the <b>-d</b> |
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390 option to "recurse". |
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391 </P> |
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392 <P> |
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393 <b>-s</b>, <b>--no-messages</b> |
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394 Suppress error messages about non-existent or unreadable files. Such files are |
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395 quietly skipped. However, the return code is still 2, even if matches were |
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396 found in other files. |
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397 </P> |
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398 <P> |
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399 <b>-u</b>, <b>--utf-8</b> |
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400 Operate in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE has been compiled |
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401 with UTF-8 support. Both patterns and subject lines must be valid strings of |
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402 UTF-8 characters. |
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403 </P> |
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404 <P> |
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405 <b>-V</b>, <b>--version</b> |
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406 Write the version numbers of <b>pcregrep</b> and the PCRE library that is being |
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407 used to the standard error stream. |
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408 </P> |
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409 <P> |
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410 <b>-v</b>, <b>--invert-match</b> |
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411 Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which do <i>not</i> match any of |
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412 the patterns are the ones that are found. |
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413 </P> |
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414 <P> |
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415 <b>-w</b>, <b>--word-regex</b>, <b>--word-regexp</b> |
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416 Force the patterns to match only whole words. This is equivalent to having \b |
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417 at the start and end of the pattern. |
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418 </P> |
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419 <P> |
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420 <b>-x</b>, <b>--line-regex</b>, <b>--line-regexp</b> |
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421 Force the patterns to be anchored (each must start matching at the beginning of |
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422 a line) and in addition, require them to match entire lines. This is |
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423 equivalent to having ^ and $ characters at the start and end of each |
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424 alternative branch in every pattern. |
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425 </P> |
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426 <br><a name="SEC5" href="#TOC1">ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES</a><br> |
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427 <P> |
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428 The environment variables <b>LC_ALL</b> and <b>LC_CTYPE</b> are examined, in that |
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429 order, for a locale. The first one that is set is used. This can be overridden |
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430 by the <b>--locale</b> option. If no locale is set, the PCRE library's default |
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431 (usually the "C" locale) is used. |
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432 </P> |
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433 <br><a name="SEC6" href="#TOC1">NEWLINES</a><br> |
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434 <P> |
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435 The <b>-N</b> (<b>--newline</b>) option allows <b>pcregrep</b> to scan files with |
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436 different newline conventions from the default. However, the setting of this |
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437 option does not affect the way in which <b>pcregrep</b> writes information to |
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438 the standard error and output streams. It uses the string "\n" in C |
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439 <b>printf()</b> calls to indicate newlines, relying on the C I/O library to |
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440 convert this to an appropriate sequence if the output is sent to a file. |
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441 </P> |
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442 <br><a name="SEC7" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS COMPATIBILITY</a><br> |
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443 <P> |
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444 The majority of short and long forms of <b>pcregrep</b>'s options are the same |
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445 as in the GNU <b>grep</b> program. Any long option of the form |
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446 <b>--xxx-regexp</b> (GNU terminology) is also available as <b>--xxx-regex</b> |
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447 (PCRE terminology). However, the <b>--locale</b>, <b>-M</b>, <b>--multiline</b>, |
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448 <b>-u</b>, and <b>--utf-8</b> options are specific to <b>pcregrep</b>. |
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449 </P> |
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450 <br><a name="SEC8" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS WITH DATA</a><br> |
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451 <P> |
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452 There are four different ways in which an option with data can be specified. |
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453 If a short form option is used, the data may follow immediately, or in the next |
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454 command line item. For example: |
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455 <pre> |
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456 -f/some/file |
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457 -f /some/file |
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458 </pre> |
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459 If a long form option is used, the data may appear in the same command line |
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460 item, separated by an equals character, or (with one exception) it may appear |
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461 in the next command line item. For example: |
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462 <pre> |
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463 --file=/some/file |
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464 --file /some/file |
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465 </pre> |
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466 Note, however, that if you want to supply a file name beginning with ~ as data |
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467 in a shell command, and have the shell expand ~ to a home directory, you must |
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468 separate the file name from the option, because the shell does not treat ~ |
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469 specially unless it is at the start of an item. |
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470 </P> |
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471 <P> |
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472 The exception to the above is the <b>--colour</b> (or <b>--color</b>) option, |
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473 for which the data is optional. If this option does have data, it must be given |
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474 in the first form, using an equals character. Otherwise it will be assumed that |
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475 it has no data. |
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476 </P> |
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477 <br><a name="SEC9" href="#TOC1">MATCHING ERRORS</a><br> |
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478 <P> |
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479 It is possible to supply a regular expression that takes a very long time to |
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480 fail to match certain lines. Such patterns normally involve nested indefinite |
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481 repeats, for example: (a+)*\d when matched against a line of a's with no final |
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482 digit. The PCRE matching function has a resource limit that causes it to abort |
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483 in these circumstances. If this happens, <b>pcregrep</b> outputs an error |
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484 message and the line that caused the problem to the standard error stream. If |
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485 there are more than 20 such errors, <b>pcregrep</b> gives up. |
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486 </P> |
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487 <br><a name="SEC10" href="#TOC1">DIAGNOSTICS</a><br> |
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488 <P> |
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489 Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches were found, and 2 |
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490 for syntax errors and non-existent or inacessible files (even if matches were |
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491 found in other files) or too many matching errors. Using the <b>-s</b> option to |
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492 suppress error messages about inaccessble files does not affect the return |
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493 code. |
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494 </P> |
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495 <br><a name="SEC11" href="#TOC1">SEE ALSO</a><br> |
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496 <P> |
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497 <b>pcrepattern</b>(3), <b>pcretest</b>(1). |
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498 </P> |
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499 <br><a name="SEC12" href="#TOC1">AUTHOR</a><br> |
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500 <P> |
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501 Philip Hazel |
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502 <br> |
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503 University Computing Service |
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504 <br> |
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505 Cambridge CB2 3QH, England. |
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506 <br> |
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507 </P> |
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508 <br><a name="SEC13" href="#TOC1">REVISION</a><br> |
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509 <P> |
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510 Last updated: 08 March 2008 |
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511 <br> |
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512 Copyright © 1997-2008 University of Cambridge. |
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513 <br> |
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514 <p> |
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515 Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>. |
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516 </p> |