Date: Sun, 1 Mar 1998 12:48:46 PST From: "Marty Leisner" <leisner@sdsp.mc.xerox.com> To: Johann Visagie <wjv@cityip.co.za> Cc: jake@int.checker.org (Jake), freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: what does grep stand for? Message-ID: <9803012048.AA15657@gnu.sdsp.mc.xerox.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 01 Mar 1998 11:33:00 PST." <E0y9ETs-0005Wl-00@ns.cityip.co.za>
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In message <E0y9ETs-0005Wl-00@ns.cityip.co.za>, you write:
>Jake wrote:
>>
>> My teacher says grep stands for Get Regular ExPression,
>> I thought it was more complicated.
>
>Global regular expression and print, I always thought. In ed(1):
>
> g/re/p
Get a new teacher.
>From the jargon file:
File: jargon.info, Node: grep, Next: grilf, Prev: Green's Theorem, Up: = G =
:grep: /grep/ /vi./ [from the qed/ed editor idiom g/re/p,
where re stands for a regular expression, to Globally search
for the Regular Expression and Print the lines containing matches
to it, via {{Unix}} `grep(1)'] To rapidly scan a file or set
of files looking for a particular string or pattern (when browsing
through a large set of files, one may speak of `grepping
around'). By extension, to look for something by pattern. "Grep
the bulletin board for the system backup schedule, would you?"
See also {vgrep}.
marty
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