trunk/doc/pcregrep.txt

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


SYNOPSIS
     pcregrep [-Vcfhilnrsvx] pattern [file] ...


DESCRIPTION
     pcregrep searches files for character patterns, in the  same
     way  as other grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular
     expression library to support patterns that  are  compatible
     with  the  regular  expressions of Perl 5. See pcre(3) for a
     full description of syntax and semantics.

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

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


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

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

       versity of Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected  to
                      the  Internet.   It   is  freely  available
               under the terms of
                      the GNU General Public Licence. In style it
               is similar  to
                      Smail  3,  but  its   facilities  are  more
               extensive, and in
                      particular it has  some  defences   against
               mail  bombs  and
                      unsolicited  junk  mail,  in  the  form  of
               options for refusing
                      messages from particular  hosts,  networks,
               or senders.

                      Exim's command  line  takes  the   standard

               Unix  form  of  a
                      sequence  of  options, each starting with a
               hyphen  charac-ffilename  Read  patterns  from the
               file, one per line, and match all patterns against
               each  line.  There  is  a maximum of 100 patterns.
               Trailing white space is removed, and  blank  lines
               are  ignored.  An  empty file contains no patterns
               and therefore matches nothing.

     -h        Suppress printing of filenames when searching mul-
               tiple files.

     -i        Ignore upper/lower case distinctions  during  com-
               parisons.

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

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

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

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

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

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


SEE ALSO
     pcre(3), Perl 5 documentation


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


AUTHOR
     Philip Hazel <ph10@cam.ac.uk>

     Last updated: 15 August 2001
     Copyright (c) 1997-2001 University of Cambridge.
1	nigel	49	NAME
2			pcregrep - a grep with Perl-compatible regular expressions.
3
4
5
6			SYNOPSIS
7	nigel	53	pcregrep [-Vcfhilnrsvx] pattern [file] ...
8	nigel	49
9
10
11			DESCRIPTION
12			pcregrep searches files for character patterns, in the same
13			way as other grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular
14			expression library to support patterns that are compatible
15			with the regular expressions of Perl 5. See pcre(3) for a
16			full description of syntax and semantics.
17
18			If no files are specified, pcregrep reads the standard
19			input. By default, each line that matches the pattern is
20			copied to the standard output, and if there is more than one
21			file, the file name is printed before each line of output.
22			However, there are options that can change how pcregrep
23			behaves.
24
25			Lines are limited to BUFSIZ characters. BUFSIZ is defined in
26			<stdio.h>. The newline character is removed from the end of
27			each line before it is matched against the pattern.
28
29
30
31			OPTIONS
32			-V Write the version number of the PCRE library being
33			used to the standard error stream.
34
35			-c Do not print individual lines; instead just print
36			a count of the number of lines that would other-
37			wise have been printed. If several files are
38			given, a count is printed for each of them.
39
40	nigel	55	versity of Cambridge for use on Unix systems connected to
41			the Internet. It is freely available
42			under the terms of
43			the GNU General Public Licence. In style it
44			is similar to
45			Smail 3, but its facilities are more
46			extensive, and in
47			particular it has some defences against
48			mail bombs and
49			unsolicited junk mail, in the form of
50			options for refusing
51			messages from particular hosts, networks,
52			or senders.
53	nigel	53
54	nigel	55	Exim's command line takes the standard
55
56			Unix form of a
57			sequence of options, each starting with a
58			hyphen charac-ffilename Read patterns from the
59			file, one per line, and match all patterns against
60			each line. There is a maximum of 100 patterns.
61			Trailing white space is removed, and blank lines
62			are ignored. An empty file contains no patterns
63			and therefore matches nothing.
64
65	nigel	49	-h Suppress printing of filenames when searching mul-
66			tiple files.
67
68			-i Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during com-
69			parisons.
70
71			-l Instead of printing lines from the files, just
72			print the names of the files containing lines that
73			would have been printed. Each file name is printed
74			once, on a separate line.
75
76			-n Precede each line by its line number in the file.
77
78	nigel	53	-r If any file is a directory, recursively scan the
79			files it contains. Without -r a directory is
80			scanned as a normal file.
81
82	nigel	49	-s Work silently, that is, display nothing except
83			error messages. The exit status indicates whether
84			any matches were found.
85
86			-v Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which
87			do not match the pattern are now the ones that are
88			found.
89
90			-x Force the pattern to be anchored (it must start
91			matching at the beginning of the line) and in
92			addition, require it to match the entire line.
93			This is equivalent to having ^ and $ characters at
94			the start and end of each alternative branch in
95			the regular expression.
96
97
98
99			SEE ALSO
100			pcre(3), Perl 5 documentation
101
102
103
104
105
106			DIAGNOSTICS
107			Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches
108			were found, and 2 for syntax errors or inacessible files
109			(even if matches were found).
110
111
112
113			AUTHOR
114			Philip Hazel <ph10@cam.ac.uk>
115
116	nigel	53	Last updated: 15 August 2001
117			Copyright (c) 1997-2001 University of Cambridge.