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<head>
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<title>pcregrep specification</title>
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<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#00005A" link="#0066FF" alink="#3399FF" vlink="#2222BB">
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<h1>pcregrep man page</h1>
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<p>
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Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>.
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</p>
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<p>
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This page is part of the PCRE HTML documentation. It was generated automatically
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from the original man page. If there is any nonsense in it, please consult the
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man page, in case the conversion went wrong.
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<br>
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<ul>
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<li><a name="TOC1" href="#SEC1">SYNOPSIS</a>
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<li><a name="TOC2" href="#SEC2">DESCRIPTION</a>
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<li><a name="TOC3" href="#SEC3">SUPPORT FOR COMPRESSED FILES</a>
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<li><a name="TOC4" href="#SEC4">OPTIONS</a>
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<li><a name="TOC5" href="#SEC5">ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES</a>
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<li><a name="TOC6" href="#SEC6">NEWLINES</a>
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<li><a name="TOC7" href="#SEC7">OPTIONS COMPATIBILITY</a>
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<li><a name="TOC8" href="#SEC8">OPTIONS WITH DATA</a>
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<li><a name="TOC9" href="#SEC9">MATCHING ERRORS</a>
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<li><a name="TOC10" href="#SEC10">DIAGNOSTICS</a>
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<li><a name="TOC11" href="#SEC11">SEE ALSO</a>
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<li><a name="TOC12" href="#SEC12">AUTHOR</a>
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<li><a name="TOC13" href="#SEC13">REVISION</a>
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</ul>
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<br><a name="SEC1" href="#TOC1">SYNOPSIS</a><br>
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<P>
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<b>pcregrep [options] [long options] [pattern] [path1 path2 ...]</b>
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</P>
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<br><a name="SEC2" href="#TOC1">DESCRIPTION</a><br>
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<P>
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<b>pcregrep</b> searches files for character patterns, in the same way as other
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grep commands do, but it uses the PCRE regular expression library to support
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patterns that are compatible with the regular expressions of Perl 5. See
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<a href="pcrepattern.html"><b>pcrepattern</b>(3)</a>
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for a full description of syntax and semantics of the regular expressions
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that PCRE supports.
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</P>
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<P>
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Patterns, whether supplied on the command line or in a separate file, are given
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without delimiters. For example:
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<pre>
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pcregrep Thursday /etc/motd
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</pre>
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If you attempt to use delimiters (for example, by surrounding a pattern with
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slashes, as is common in Perl scripts), they are interpreted as part of the
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pattern. Quotes can of course be used to delimit patterns on the command line
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because they are interpreted by the shell, and indeed they are required if a
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pattern contains white space or shell metacharacters.
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</P>
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<P>
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The first argument that follows any option settings is treated as the single
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pattern to be matched when neither <b>-e</b> nor <b>-f</b> is present.
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Conversely, when one or both of these options are used to specify patterns, all
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arguments are treated as path names. At least one of <b>-e</b>, <b>-f</b>, or an
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argument pattern must be provided.
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</P>
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<P>
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If no files are specified, <b>pcregrep</b> reads the standard input. The
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standard input can also be referenced by a name consisting of a single hyphen.
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For example:
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<pre>
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pcregrep some-pattern /file1 - /file3
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</pre>
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By default, each line that matches a pattern is copied to the standard
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output, and if there is more than one file, the file name is output at the
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start of each line, followed by a colon. However, there are options that can
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change how <b>pcregrep</b> behaves. In particular, the <b>-M</b> option makes it
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possible to search for patterns that span line boundaries. What defines a line
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boundary is controlled by the <b>-N</b> (<b>--newline</b>) option.
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</P>
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<P>
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Patterns are limited to 8K or BUFSIZ characters, whichever is the greater.
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BUFSIZ is defined in <b><stdio.h></b>. When there is more than one pattern
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(specified by the use of <b>-e</b> and/or <b>-f</b>), each pattern is applied to
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each line in the order in which they are defined, except that all the <b>-e</b>
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patterns are tried before the <b>-f</b> patterns.
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</P>
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<P>
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By default, as soon as one pattern matches (or fails to match when <b>-v</b> is
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used), no further patterns are considered. However, if <b>--colour</b> (or
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<b>--color</b>) is used to colour the matching substrings, or if
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<b>--only-matching</b>, <b>--file-offsets</b>, or <b>--line-offsets</b> is used to
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output only the part of the line that matched (either shown literally, or as an
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offset), scanning resumes immediately following the match, so that further
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matches on the same line can be found. If there are multiple patterns, they are
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all tried on the remainder of the line, but patterns that follow the one that
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matched are not tried on the earlier part of the line.
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</P>
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<P>
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This is the same behaviour as GNU grep, but it does mean that the order in
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which multiple patterns are specified can affect the output when one of the
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above options is used.
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</P>
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<P>
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Patterns that can match an empty string are accepted, but empty string
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matches are not recognized. An example is the pattern "(super)?(man)?", in
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which all components are optional. This pattern finds all occurrences of both
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"super" and "man"; the output differs from matching with "super|man" when only
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the matching substrings are being shown.
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</P>
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<P>
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If the <b>LC_ALL</b> or <b>LC_CTYPE</b> environment variable is set,
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<b>pcregrep</b> uses the value to set a locale when calling the PCRE library.
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The <b>--locale</b> option can be used to override this.
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</P>
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<br><a name="SEC3" href="#TOC1">SUPPORT FOR COMPRESSED FILES</a><br>
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<P>
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It is possible to compile <b>pcregrep</b> so that it uses <b>libz</b> or
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<b>libbz2</b> to read files whose names end in <b>.gz</b> or <b>.bz2</b>,
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respectively. You can find out whether your binary has support for one or both
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of these file types by running it with the <b>--help</b> option. If the
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appropriate support is not present, files are treated as plain text. The
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standard input is always so treated.
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</P>
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<br><a name="SEC4" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS</a><br>
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<P>
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<b>--</b>
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This terminate the list of options. It is useful if the next item on the
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command line starts with a hyphen but is not an option. This allows for the
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processing of patterns and filenames that start with hyphens.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-A</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--after-context=</b><i>number</i>
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Output <i>number</i> lines of context after each matching line. If filenames
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and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a
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colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each
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group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value
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of <i>number</i> is expected to be relatively small. However, <b>pcregrep</b>
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guarantees to have up to 8K of following text available for context output.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-B</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--before-context=</b><i>number</i>
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Output <i>number</i> lines of context before each matching line. If filenames
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and/or line numbers are being output, a hyphen separator is used instead of a
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colon for the context lines. A line containing "--" is output between each
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group of lines, unless they are in fact contiguous in the input file. The value
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of <i>number</i> is expected to be relatively small. However, <b>pcregrep</b>
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guarantees to have up to 8K of preceding text available for context output.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-C</b> <i>number</i>, <b>--context=</b><i>number</i>
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Output <i>number</i> lines of context both before and after each matching line.
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This is equivalent to setting both <b>-A</b> and <b>-B</b> to the same value.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-c</b>, <b>--count</b>
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Do not output individual lines; instead just output a count of the number of
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lines that would otherwise have been output. If several files are given, a
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count is output for each of them. In this mode, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and
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<b>-C</b> options are ignored.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>--colour</b>, <b>--color</b>
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If this option is given without any data, it is equivalent to "--colour=auto".
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If data is required, it must be given in the same shell item, separated by an
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equals sign.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>--colour=</b><i>value</i>, <b>--color=</b><i>value</i>
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This option specifies under what circumstances the parts of a line that matched
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a pattern should be coloured in the output. By default, the output is not
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coloured. The value (which is optional, see above) may be "never", "always", or
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"auto". In the latter case, colouring happens only if the standard output is
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connected to a terminal. More resources are used when colouring is enabled,
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because <b>pcregrep</b> has to search for all possible matches in a line, not
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just one, in order to colour them all.
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</P>
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<P>
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The colour that is used can be specified by setting the environment variable
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PCREGREP_COLOUR or PCREGREP_COLOR. The value of this variable should be a
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string of two numbers, separated by a semicolon. They are copied directly into
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the control string for setting colour on a terminal, so it is your
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responsibility to ensure that they make sense. If neither of the environment
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variables is set, the default is "1;31", which gives red.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-D</b> <i>action</i>, <b>--devices=</b><i>action</i>
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If an input path is not a regular file or a directory, "action" specifies how
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it is to be processed. Valid values are "read" (the default) or "skip"
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(silently skip the path).
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-d</b> <i>action</i>, <b>--directories=</b><i>action</i>
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If an input path is a directory, "action" specifies how it is to be processed.
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Valid values are "read" (the default), "recurse" (equivalent to the <b>-r</b>
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option), or "skip" (silently skip the path). In the default case, directories
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are read as if they were ordinary files. In some operating systems the effect
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of reading a directory like this is an immediate end-of-file.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-e</b> <i>pattern</i>, <b>--regex=</b><i>pattern</i>, <b>--regexp=</b><i>pattern</i>
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Specify a pattern to be matched. This option can be used multiple times in
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order to specify several patterns. It can also be used as a way of specifying a
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single pattern that starts with a hyphen. When <b>-e</b> is used, no argument
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pattern is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file
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names. There is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. They are applied to each
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line in the order in which they are defined until one matches (or fails to
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match if <b>-v</b> is used). If <b>-f</b> is used with <b>-e</b>, the command line
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patterns are matched first, followed by the patterns from the file, independent
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of the order in which these options are specified. Note that multiple use of
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<b>-e</b> is not the same as a single pattern with alternatives. For example,
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X|Y finds the first character in a line that is X or Y, whereas if the two
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patterns are given separately, <b>pcregrep</b> finds X if it is present, even if
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it follows Y in the line. It finds Y only if there is no X in the line. This
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really matters only if you are using <b>-o</b> to show the part(s) of the line
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that matched.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>--exclude</b>=<i>pattern</i>
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When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of
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the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, any regular files whose names match the
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pattern are excluded. Subdirectories are not excluded by this option; they are
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searched recursively, subject to the <b>--exclude_dir</b> and
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<b>--include_dir</b> options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is
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matched against the final component of the file name (not the entire path). If
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a file name matches both <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b>, it is excluded.
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There is no short form for this option.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>--exclude_dir</b>=<i>pattern</i>
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When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence
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of the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, any subdirectories whose names match
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the pattern are excluded. (Note that the \fP--exclude\fP option does not affect
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subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched
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against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a
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subdirectory name matches both <b>--include_dir</b> and <b>--exclude_dir</b>, it
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is excluded. There is no short form for this option.
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-F</b>, <b>--fixed-strings</b>
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Interpret each pattern as a list of fixed strings, separated by newlines,
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instead of as a regular expression. The <b>-w</b> (match as a word) and <b>-x</b>
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(match whole line) options can be used with <b>-F</b>. They apply to each of the
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fixed strings. A line is selected if any of the fixed strings are found in it
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(subject to <b>-w</b> or <b>-x</b>, if present).
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</P>
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<P>
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<b>-f</b> <i>filename</i>, <b>--file=</b><i>filename</i>
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Read a number of patterns from the file, one per line, and match them against
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each line of input. A data line is output if any of the patterns match it. The
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filename can be given as "-" to refer to the standard input. When <b>-f</b> is
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used, patterns specified on the command line using <b>-e</b> may also be
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present; they are tested before the file's patterns. However, no other pattern
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is taken from the command line; all arguments are treated as file names. There
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is an overall maximum of 100 patterns. Trailing white space is removed from
|
|
|
|
|
each line, and blank lines are ignored. An empty file contains no patterns and
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
therefore matches nothing. See also the comments about multiple patterns versus
|
|
|
|
|
a single pattern with alternatives in the description of <b>-e</b> above.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--file-offsets</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as an
|
|
|
|
|
offset from the start of the file and a length, separated by a comma. In this
|
|
|
|
|
mode, no context is shown. That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b>
|
|
|
|
|
options are ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is
|
|
|
|
|
shown separately. This option is mutually exclusive with <b>--line-offsets</b>
|
|
|
|
|
and <b>--only-matching</b>.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-H</b>, <b>--with-filename</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Force the inclusion of the filename at the start of output lines when searching
|
|
|
|
|
a single file. By default, the filename is not shown in this case. For matching
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
lines, the filename is followed by a colon; for context lines, a hyphen
|
|
|
|
|
separator is used. If a line number is also being output, it follows the file
|
|
|
|
|
name.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-h</b>, <b>--no-filename</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Suppress the output filenames when searching multiple files. By default,
|
|
|
|
|
filenames are shown when multiple files are searched. For matching lines, the
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
filename is followed by a colon; for context lines, a hyphen separator is used.
|
|
|
|
|
If a line number is also being output, it follows the file name.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--help</b>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
Output a help message, giving brief details of the command options and file
|
|
|
|
|
type support, and then exit.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-i</b>, <b>--ignore-case</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Ignore upper/lower case distinctions during comparisons.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--include</b>=<i>pattern</i>
|
|
|
|
|
When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the files in a directory as a consequence of
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, only those regular files whose names
|
|
|
|
|
match the pattern are included. Subdirectories are always included and searched
|
|
|
|
|
recursively, subject to the \fP--include_dir\fP and <b>--exclude_dir</b>
|
|
|
|
|
options. The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and is matched against the
|
|
|
|
|
final component of the file name (not the entire path). If a file name matches
|
|
|
|
|
both <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b>, it is excluded. There is no short
|
|
|
|
|
form for this option.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--include_dir</b>=<i>pattern</i>
|
|
|
|
|
When <b>pcregrep</b> is searching the contents of a directory as a consequence
|
|
|
|
|
of the <b>-r</b> (recursive search) option, only those subdirectories whose
|
|
|
|
|
names match the pattern are included. (Note that the <b>--include</b> option
|
|
|
|
|
does not affect subdirectories.) The pattern is a PCRE regular expression, and
|
|
|
|
|
is matched against the final component of the name (not the entire path). If a
|
|
|
|
|
subdirectory name matches both <b>--include_dir</b> and <b>--exclude_dir</b>, it
|
|
|
|
|
is excluded. There is no short form for this option.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-L</b>, <b>--files-without-match</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files
|
|
|
|
|
that do not contain any lines that would have been output. Each file name is
|
|
|
|
|
output once, on a separate line.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-l</b>, <b>--files-with-matches</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Instead of outputting lines from the files, just output the names of the files
|
|
|
|
|
containing lines that would have been output. Each file name is output
|
|
|
|
|
once, on a separate line. Searching stops as soon as a matching line is found
|
|
|
|
|
in a file.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--label</b>=<i>name</i>
|
|
|
|
|
This option supplies a name to be used for the standard input when file names
|
|
|
|
|
are being output. If not supplied, "(standard input)" is used. There is no
|
|
|
|
|
short form for this option.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<b>--line-offsets</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Instead of showing lines or parts of lines that match, show each match as a
|
|
|
|
|
line number, the offset from the start of the line, and a length. The line
|
|
|
|
|
number is terminated by a colon (as usual; see the <b>-n</b> option), and the
|
|
|
|
|
offset and length are separated by a comma. In this mode, no context is shown.
|
|
|
|
|
That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b> options are ignored. If there is
|
|
|
|
|
more than one match in a line, each of them is shown separately. This option is
|
|
|
|
|
mutually exclusive with <b>--file-offsets</b> and <b>--only-matching</b>.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<b>--locale</b>=<i>locale-name</i>
|
|
|
|
|
This option specifies a locale to be used for pattern matching. It overrides
|
|
|
|
|
the value in the <b>LC_ALL</b> or <b>LC_CTYPE</b> environment variables. If no
|
|
|
|
|
locale is specified, the PCRE library's default (usually the "C" locale) is
|
|
|
|
|
used. There is no short form for this option.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-M</b>, <b>--multiline</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Allow patterns to match more than one line. When this option is given, patterns
|
|
|
|
|
may usefully contain literal newline characters and internal occurrences of ^
|
|
|
|
|
and $ characters. The output for any one match may consist of more than one
|
|
|
|
|
line. When this option is set, the PCRE library is called in "multiline" mode.
|
|
|
|
|
There is a limit to the number of lines that can be matched, imposed by the way
|
|
|
|
|
that <b>pcregrep</b> buffers the input file as it scans it. However,
|
|
|
|
|
<b>pcregrep</b> ensures that at least 8K characters or the rest of the document
|
|
|
|
|
(whichever is the shorter) are available for forward matching, and similarly
|
|
|
|
|
the previous 8K characters (or all the previous characters, if fewer than 8K)
|
|
|
|
|
are guaranteed to be available for lookbehind assertions.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-N</b> <i>newline-type</i>, <b>--newline=</b><i>newline-type</i>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
The PCRE library supports five different conventions for indicating
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
the ends of lines. They are the single-character sequences CR (carriage return)
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
and LF (linefeed), the two-character sequence CRLF, an "anycrlf" convention,
|
|
|
|
|
which recognizes any of the preceding three types, and an "any" convention, in
|
|
|
|
|
which any Unicode line ending sequence is assumed to end a line. The Unicode
|
|
|
|
|
sequences are the three just mentioned, plus VT (vertical tab, U+000B), FF
|
|
|
|
|
(formfeed, U+000C), NEL (next line, U+0085), LS (line separator, U+2028), and
|
|
|
|
|
PS (paragraph separator, U+2029).
|
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
|
<br>
|
|
|
|
|
When the PCRE library is built, a default line-ending sequence is specified.
|
|
|
|
|
This is normally the standard sequence for the operating system. Unless
|
|
|
|
|
otherwise specified by this option, <b>pcregrep</b> uses the library's default.
|
|
|
|
|
The possible values for this option are CR, LF, CRLF, ANYCRLF, or ANY. This
|
|
|
|
|
makes it possible to use <b>pcregrep</b> on files that have come from other
|
|
|
|
|
environments without having to modify their line endings. If the data that is
|
|
|
|
|
being scanned does not agree with the convention set by this option,
|
|
|
|
|
<b>pcregrep</b> may behave in strange ways.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-n</b>, <b>--line-number</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Precede each output line by its line number in the file, followed by a colon
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
for matching lines or a hyphen for context lines. If the filename is also being
|
|
|
|
|
output, it precedes the line number. This option is forced if
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--line-offsets</b> is used.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-o</b>, <b>--only-matching</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Show only the part of the line that matched a pattern. In this mode, no
|
|
|
|
|
context is shown. That is, the <b>-A</b>, <b>-B</b>, and <b>-C</b> options are
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
ignored. If there is more than one match in a line, each of them is shown
|
|
|
|
|
separately. If <b>-o</b> is combined with <b>-v</b> (invert the sense of the
|
|
|
|
|
match to find non-matching lines), no output is generated, but the return code
|
|
|
|
|
is set appropriately. This option is mutually exclusive with
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--file-offsets</b> and <b>--line-offsets</b>.
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-q</b>, <b>--quiet</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Work quietly, that is, display nothing except error messages. The exit
|
|
|
|
|
status indicates whether or not any matches were found.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-r</b>, <b>--recursive</b>
|
|
|
|
|
If any given path is a directory, recursively scan the files it contains,
|
|
|
|
|
taking note of any <b>--include</b> and <b>--exclude</b> settings. By default, a
|
|
|
|
|
directory is read as a normal file; in some operating systems this gives an
|
|
|
|
|
immediate end-of-file. This option is a shorthand for setting the <b>-d</b>
|
|
|
|
|
option to "recurse".
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-s</b>, <b>--no-messages</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Suppress error messages about non-existent or unreadable files. Such files are
|
|
|
|
|
quietly skipped. However, the return code is still 2, even if matches were
|
|
|
|
|
found in other files.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-u</b>, <b>--utf-8</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Operate in UTF-8 mode. This option is available only if PCRE has been compiled
|
|
|
|
|
with UTF-8 support. Both patterns and subject lines must be valid strings of
|
|
|
|
|
UTF-8 characters.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-V</b>, <b>--version</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Write the version numbers of <b>pcregrep</b> and the PCRE library that is being
|
|
|
|
|
used to the standard error stream.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-v</b>, <b>--invert-match</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Invert the sense of the match, so that lines which do <i>not</i> match any of
|
|
|
|
|
the patterns are the ones that are found.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-w</b>, <b>--word-regex</b>, <b>--word-regexp</b>
|
|
|
|
|
Force the patterns to match only whole words. This is equivalent to having \b
|
|
|
|
|
at the start and end of the pattern.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<b>-x</b>, <b>--line-regex</b>, <b>--line-regexp</b>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
Force the patterns to be anchored (each must start matching at the beginning of
|
|
|
|
|
a line) and in addition, require them to match entire lines. This is
|
|
|
|
|
equivalent to having ^ and $ characters at the start and end of each
|
|
|
|
|
alternative branch in every pattern.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC5" href="#TOC1">ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES</a><br>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
The environment variables <b>LC_ALL</b> and <b>LC_CTYPE</b> are examined, in that
|
|
|
|
|
order, for a locale. The first one that is set is used. This can be overridden
|
|
|
|
|
by the <b>--locale</b> option. If no locale is set, the PCRE library's default
|
|
|
|
|
(usually the "C" locale) is used.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC6" href="#TOC1">NEWLINES</a><br>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
The <b>-N</b> (<b>--newline</b>) option allows <b>pcregrep</b> to scan files with
|
|
|
|
|
different newline conventions from the default. However, the setting of this
|
|
|
|
|
option does not affect the way in which <b>pcregrep</b> writes information to
|
|
|
|
|
the standard error and output streams. It uses the string "\n" in C
|
|
|
|
|
<b>printf()</b> calls to indicate newlines, relying on the C I/O library to
|
|
|
|
|
convert this to an appropriate sequence if the output is sent to a file.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC7" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS COMPATIBILITY</a><br>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
The majority of short and long forms of <b>pcregrep</b>'s options are the same
|
|
|
|
|
as in the GNU <b>grep</b> program. Any long option of the form
|
|
|
|
|
<b>--xxx-regexp</b> (GNU terminology) is also available as <b>--xxx-regex</b>
|
|
|
|
|
(PCRE terminology). However, the <b>--locale</b>, <b>-M</b>, <b>--multiline</b>,
|
|
|
|
|
<b>-u</b>, and <b>--utf-8</b> options are specific to <b>pcregrep</b>.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC8" href="#TOC1">OPTIONS WITH DATA</a><br>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
There are four different ways in which an option with data can be specified.
|
|
|
|
|
If a short form option is used, the data may follow immediately, or in the next
|
|
|
|
|
command line item. For example:
|
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
|
|
|
-f/some/file
|
|
|
|
|
-f /some/file
|
|
|
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
|
If a long form option is used, the data may appear in the same command line
|
|
|
|
|
item, separated by an equals character, or (with one exception) it may appear
|
|
|
|
|
in the next command line item. For example:
|
|
|
|
|
<pre>
|
|
|
|
|
--file=/some/file
|
|
|
|
|
--file /some/file
|
|
|
|
|
</pre>
|
|
|
|
|
Note, however, that if you want to supply a file name beginning with ~ as data
|
|
|
|
|
in a shell command, and have the shell expand ~ to a home directory, you must
|
|
|
|
|
separate the file name from the option, because the shell does not treat ~
|
|
|
|
|
specially unless it is at the start of an item.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
The exception to the above is the <b>--colour</b> (or <b>--color</b>) option,
|
|
|
|
|
for which the data is optional. If this option does have data, it must be given
|
|
|
|
|
in the first form, using an equals character. Otherwise it will be assumed that
|
|
|
|
|
it has no data.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC9" href="#TOC1">MATCHING ERRORS</a><br>
|
2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
|
It is possible to supply a regular expression that takes a very long time to
|
|
|
|
|
fail to match certain lines. Such patterns normally involve nested indefinite
|
|
|
|
|
repeats, for example: (a+)*\d when matched against a line of a's with no final
|
|
|
|
|
digit. The PCRE matching function has a resource limit that causes it to abort
|
|
|
|
|
in these circumstances. If this happens, <b>pcregrep</b> outputs an error
|
|
|
|
|
message and the line that caused the problem to the standard error stream. If
|
|
|
|
|
there are more than 20 such errors, <b>pcregrep</b> gives up.
|
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
|
|
|
<br><a name="SEC10" href="#TOC1">DIAGNOSTICS</a><br>
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<P>
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Exit status is 0 if any matches were found, 1 if no matches were found, and 2
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for syntax errors and non-existent or inacessible files (even if matches were
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found in other files) or too many matching errors. Using the <b>-s</b> option to
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suppress error messages about inaccessble files does not affect the return
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code.
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</P>
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2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
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<br><a name="SEC11" href="#TOC1">SEE ALSO</a><br>
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<P>
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<b>pcrepattern</b>(3), <b>pcretest</b>(1).
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</P>
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<br><a name="SEC12" href="#TOC1">AUTHOR</a><br>
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<P>
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Philip Hazel
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<br>
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University Computing Service
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<br>
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2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
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Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
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<br>
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2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
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</P>
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2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
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<br><a name="SEC13" href="#TOC1">REVISION</a><br>
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<P>
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2009-06-08 19:51:30 -04:00
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Last updated: 01 March 2009
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<br>
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Copyright © 1997-2009 University of Cambridge.
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2006-12-19 14:54:26 -05:00
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<br>
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<p>
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Return to the <a href="index.html">PCRE index page</a>.
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</p>
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