trunk/doc/pcregrep.txt

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


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


DESCRIPTION

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

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

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

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


OPTIONS


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

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

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

     -h        Suppress printing of filenames when searching 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.

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

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

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


LONG OPTIONS

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

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

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


DIAGNOSTICS

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


AUTHOR

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

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