LOOK(1)                      BSD Reference Manual                      LOOK(1)

NAME
     look - display lines beginning with a given string

SYNOPSIS
     look [-df] string [file]

DESCRIPTION
     The look utility displays any lines in file which contain string as a
     prefix.  As look performs a binary search, the lines in file must be
     sorted.

     If file is not specified, the file /usr/share/dict/words is used, only
     alphanumeric characters are compared and the case of alphabetic charac-
     ters is ignored.

     Options:

     -d      Dictionary character set and order, i.e. only alphanumeric char-
             acters are compared.

     -f      Ignore the case of alphabetic characters.

     The look utility exits 0 if one or more lines were found and displayed, 1
     if no lines were found, and >1 if an error occurred.

FILES
     /usr/share/dict/words  the dictionary

SEE ALSO
     grep(1),  sort(1)

COMPATIBILITY
     The original manual page stated that tabs and blank characters partici-
     pated in comparisons when the -d option was specified.  This was incor-
     rect and the current man page matches the historic implementation.

HISTORY
     Look appeared in Version 7 AT&T Unix.

BSDI BSD/386                    March 27, 1993                               1