Documentation / git-grep.txton commit Merge branch 'jk/suppress-clang-warning' (edb99f9)
   1git-grep(1)
   2===========
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-grep - Print lines matching a pattern
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git grep' [-a | --text] [-I] [-i | --ignore-case] [-w | --word-regexp]
  13           [-v | --invert-match] [-h|-H] [--full-name]
  14           [-E | --extended-regexp] [-G | --basic-regexp]
  15           [-P | --perl-regexp]
  16           [-F | --fixed-strings] [-n | --line-number]
  17           [-l | --files-with-matches] [-L | --files-without-match]
  18           [(-O | --open-files-in-pager) [<pager>]]
  19           [-z | --null]
  20           [-c | --count] [--all-match] [-q | --quiet]
  21           [--max-depth <depth>]
  22           [--color[=<when>] | --no-color]
  23           [--break] [--heading] [-p | --show-function]
  24           [-A <post-context>] [-B <pre-context>] [-C <context>]
  25           [-W | --function-context]
  26           [-f <file>] [-e] <pattern>
  27           [--and|--or|--not|(|)|-e <pattern>...]
  28           [ [--exclude-standard] [--cached | --no-index | --untracked] | <tree>...]
  29           [--] [<pathspec>...]
  30
  31DESCRIPTION
  32-----------
  33Look for specified patterns in the tracked files in the work tree, blobs
  34registered in the index file, or blobs in given tree objects.  Patterns
  35are lists of one or more search expressions separated by newline
  36characters.  An empty string as search expression matches all lines.
  37
  38
  39CONFIGURATION
  40-------------
  41
  42grep.lineNumber::
  43        If set to true, enable '-n' option by default.
  44
  45grep.patternType::
  46        Set the default matching behavior. Using a value of 'basic', 'extended',
  47        'fixed', or 'perl' will enable the '--basic-regexp', '--extended-regexp',
  48        '--fixed-strings', or '--perl-regexp' option accordingly, while the
  49        value 'default' will return to the default matching behavior.
  50
  51grep.extendedRegexp::
  52        If set to true, enable '--extended-regexp' option by default. This
  53        option is ignored when the 'grep.patternType' option is set to a value
  54        other than 'default'.
  55
  56
  57OPTIONS
  58-------
  59--cached::
  60        Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
  61        blobs registered in the index file.
  62
  63--no-index::
  64        Search files in the current directory that is not managed by Git.
  65
  66--untracked::
  67        In addition to searching in the tracked files in the working
  68        tree, search also in untracked files.
  69
  70--no-exclude-standard::
  71        Also search in ignored files by not honoring the `.gitignore`
  72        mechanism. Only useful with `--untracked`.
  73
  74--exclude-standard::
  75        Do not pay attention to ignored files specified via the `.gitignore`
  76        mechanism.  Only useful when searching files in the current directory
  77        with `--no-index`.
  78
  79-a::
  80--text::
  81        Process binary files as if they were text.
  82
  83-i::
  84--ignore-case::
  85        Ignore case differences between the patterns and the
  86        files.
  87
  88-I::
  89        Don't match the pattern in binary files.
  90
  91--max-depth <depth>::
  92        For each <pathspec> given on command line, descend at most <depth>
  93        levels of directories. A negative value means no limit.
  94        This option is ignored if <pathspec> contains active wildcards.
  95        In other words if "a*" matches a directory named "a*",
  96        "*" is matched literally so --max-depth is still effective.
  97
  98-w::
  99--word-regexp::
 100        Match the pattern only at word boundary (either begin at the
 101        beginning of a line, or preceded by a non-word character; end at
 102        the end of a line or followed by a non-word character).
 103
 104-v::
 105--invert-match::
 106        Select non-matching lines.
 107
 108-h::
 109-H::
 110        By default, the command shows the filename for each
 111        match.  `-h` option is used to suppress this output.
 112        `-H` is there for completeness and does not do anything
 113        except it overrides `-h` given earlier on the command
 114        line.
 115
 116--full-name::
 117        When run from a subdirectory, the command usually
 118        outputs paths relative to the current directory.  This
 119        option forces paths to be output relative to the project
 120        top directory.
 121
 122-E::
 123--extended-regexp::
 124-G::
 125--basic-regexp::
 126        Use POSIX extended/basic regexp for patterns.  Default
 127        is to use basic regexp.
 128
 129-P::
 130--perl-regexp::
 131        Use Perl-compatible regexp for patterns. Requires libpcre to be
 132        compiled in.
 133
 134-F::
 135--fixed-strings::
 136        Use fixed strings for patterns (don't interpret pattern
 137        as a regex).
 138
 139-n::
 140--line-number::
 141        Prefix the line number to matching lines.
 142
 143-l::
 144--files-with-matches::
 145--name-only::
 146-L::
 147--files-without-match::
 148        Instead of showing every matched line, show only the
 149        names of files that contain (or do not contain) matches.
 150        For better compatibility with 'git diff', `--name-only` is a
 151        synonym for `--files-with-matches`.
 152
 153-O [<pager>]::
 154--open-files-in-pager [<pager>]::
 155        Open the matching files in the pager (not the output of 'grep').
 156        If the pager happens to be "less" or "vi", and the user
 157        specified only one pattern, the first file is positioned at
 158        the first match automatically.
 159
 160-z::
 161--null::
 162        Output \0 instead of the character that normally follows a
 163        file name.
 164
 165-c::
 166--count::
 167        Instead of showing every matched line, show the number of
 168        lines that match.
 169
 170--color[=<when>]::
 171        Show colored matches.
 172        The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
 173
 174--no-color::
 175        Turn off match highlighting, even when the configuration file
 176        gives the default to color output.
 177        Same as `--color=never`.
 178
 179--break::
 180        Print an empty line between matches from different files.
 181
 182--heading::
 183        Show the filename above the matches in that file instead of
 184        at the start of each shown line.
 185
 186-p::
 187--show-function::
 188        Show the preceding line that contains the function name of
 189        the match, unless the matching line is a function name itself.
 190        The name is determined in the same way as 'git diff' works out
 191        patch hunk headers (see 'Defining a custom hunk-header' in
 192        linkgit:gitattributes[5]).
 193
 194-<num>::
 195-C <num>::
 196--context <num>::
 197        Show <num> leading and trailing lines, and place a line
 198        containing `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 199
 200-A <num>::
 201--after-context <num>::
 202        Show <num> trailing lines, and place a line containing
 203        `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 204
 205-B <num>::
 206--before-context <num>::
 207        Show <num> leading lines, and place a line containing
 208        `--` between contiguous groups of matches.
 209
 210-W::
 211--function-context::
 212        Show the surrounding text from the previous line containing a
 213        function name up to the one before the next function name,
 214        effectively showing the whole function in which the match was
 215        found.
 216
 217-f <file>::
 218        Read patterns from <file>, one per line.
 219
 220-e::
 221        The next parameter is the pattern. This option has to be
 222        used for patterns starting with `-` and should be used in
 223        scripts passing user input to grep.  Multiple patterns are
 224        combined by 'or'.
 225
 226--and::
 227--or::
 228--not::
 229( ... )::
 230        Specify how multiple patterns are combined using Boolean
 231        expressions.  `--or` is the default operator.  `--and` has
 232        higher precedence than `--or`.  `-e` has to be used for all
 233        patterns.
 234
 235--all-match::
 236        When giving multiple pattern expressions combined with `--or`,
 237        this flag is specified to limit the match to files that
 238        have lines to match all of them.
 239
 240-q::
 241--quiet::
 242        Do not output matched lines; instead, exit with status 0 when
 243        there is a match and with non-zero status when there isn't.
 244
 245<tree>...::
 246        Instead of searching tracked files in the working tree, search
 247        blobs in the given trees.
 248
 249\--::
 250        Signals the end of options; the rest of the parameters
 251        are <pathspec> limiters.
 252
 253<pathspec>...::
 254        If given, limit the search to paths matching at least one pattern.
 255        Both leading paths match and glob(7) patterns are supported.
 256
 257Examples
 258--------
 259
 260`git grep 'time_t' -- '*.[ch]'`::
 261        Looks for `time_t` in all tracked .c and .h files in the working
 262        directory and its subdirectories.
 263
 264`git grep -e '#define' --and \( -e MAX_PATH -e PATH_MAX \)`::
 265        Looks for a line that has `#define` and either `MAX_PATH` or
 266        `PATH_MAX`.
 267
 268`git grep --all-match -e NODE -e Unexpected`::
 269        Looks for a line that has `NODE` or `Unexpected` in
 270        files that have lines that match both.
 271
 272GIT
 273---
 274Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite