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Discussion on: Seeing Context with `grep`

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val_baca profile image
Valentin Baca

Meta advice: "tldr" (tldr.sh/) is a wonderful, pragmatic way to find common flags for commands. It's much more approachable than man.

$ tldr grep

grep

Matches patterns in input text.
Supports simple patterns and regular expressions.

- Search for an exact string:
    grep search_string path/to/file

- Search in case-insensitive mode:
    grep -i search_string path/to/file

- Search recursively (ignoring non-text files) in current directory for an exact string:
    grep -RI search_string .

- Use extended regular expressions (supporting `?`, `+`, `{}`, `()` and `|`):
    grep -E ^regex$ path/to/file

- Print 3 lines of [C]ontext around, [B]efore, or [A]fter each match:
    grep -C|B|A 3 search_string path/to/file

- Print file name with the corresponding line number for each match:
    grep -Hn search_string path/to/file

- Use the standard input instead of a file:
    cat path/to/file | grep search_string

- Invert match for excluding specific strings:
    grep -v search_string


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deven96 profile image
Diretnan Domnan

Wow... a lot nicer than man

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val_baca profile image
Valentin Baca

It's best to also use them in conjunction:

Use tldr for the quick easy things, then with that knowledge, you know what to look for in the man page.

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rpalo profile image
Ryan Palo

Nice! That’s a neat service. Thanks for sharing!

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anpos231 profile image
anpos231

If I remember correctly, you can install tldr locally on your PC.

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val_baca profile image
Valentin Baca

You absolutely can: tldr.sh/#installation

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anpos231 profile image
anpos231 • Edited

WOW so many clients.
We've got to make even more :P