trunk/doc/pcregrep.1

.TH PCREGREP 1
.SH NAME
pcregrep - a grep with Perl-compatible regular expressions.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B pcregrep [-Vcfhilnrsuvx] [long options] [pattern] [file1 file2 ...]

.SH DESCRIPTION
.rs
.sp
\fBpcregrep\fR searches files for character patterns, in the same way as other
grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library to support
patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of Perl 5. See
.\" HREF
\fBpcrepattern\fR
.\"
for a full description of syntax and semantics of the regular expressions that
PCRE supports.

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

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

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

.SH OPTIONS
.rs
.sp
.TP 10
\fB-V\fR
Write the version number of the PCRE library being used to the standard error
stream.
.TP
\fB-c\fR
Do not print individual lines; instead just print a count of the number of
lines that would otherwise have been printed. If several files are given, a
count is printed for each of them.
.TP
\fB-f\fR\fIfilename\fR
Read a number of patterns from the file, one per line, and match all of them
against each line of input. A line is output if any of the patterns match it.
When \fB-f\fR is used, no pattern is taken from the command line; all arguments
are treated as file names. There is a maximum of 100 patterns. Trailing white
space is removed, and blank lines are ignored. An empty file contains no
patterns and therefore matches nothing.
.TP
\fB-h\fR
Suppress printing of filenames when searching multiple files.
.TP
\fB-i\fR
Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons.
.TP
\fB-l\fR
Instead of printing lines from the files, just print the names of the files
containing lines that would have been printed. Each file name is printed
once, on a separate line.
.TP
\fB-n\fR
Precede each line by its line number in the file.
.TP
\fB-r\fR
If any file is a directory, recursively scan the files it contains. Without
\fB-r\fR a directory is scanned as a normal file.
.TP
\fB-s\fR
Work silently, that is, display nothing except error messages.
The exit status indicates whether any matches were found.
.TP
\fB-u\fR
Operate in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE has been compiled
with UTF-8 support. Both the pattern and each subject line are assumed to be
valid strings of UTF-8 characters.
.TP
\fB-v\fR
Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which do \fInot\fR match the
pattern are now the ones that are found.
.TP
\fB-x\fR
Force the pattern to be anchored (it must start matching at the beginning of
the line) and in addition, require it to match the entire line. This is
equivalent to having ^ and $ characters at the start and end of each
alternative branch in the regular expression.

.SH LONG OPTIONS
.rs
.sp
Long forms of all the options are available, as in GNU grep. They are shown in
the following table:

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

In addition, --file=\fIfilename\fR is equivalent to -f\fIfilename\fR, and
--help shows the list of options and then exits.

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


.SH AUTHOR
.rs
.sp
Philip Hazel <ph10@cam.ac.uk>
.br
University Computing Service
.br
Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.

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