fgrep(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   fgrep(1)



NAME
     fgrep - search a file for a character string

SYNOPSIS
     fgrep [options] string [file ...]

DESCRIPTION
     fgrep (fast grep) seaches files for a character  string  and
     prints  all  lines  that contain that string.  fgrep is dif-
     ferent from grep(1) and egrep(1) because it searches  for  a
     string,  instead  of searching for a pattern that matches an
     expression.  It uses a fast and compact algorithm.

     The characters $, *, [, ^, |, (, ), and  \  are  interpreted
     literally  by  fgrep, that is, fgrep does not recognize full
     regular expressions as does egrep.  Since  these  characters
     have  special  meaning to the shell, it is safest to enclose
     the entire string in single quotes '...'.

     If no files are specified,  fgrep  assumes  standard  input.
     Normally,  each line found is copied to the standard output.
     The file name is printed before each line found if there  is
     more than one input file.

     Command line options are:

     -b    Precede each line by the block number on which it  was
           found.   This  can be useful in locating block numbers
           by context (first block is 0).
     -c    Print only a count of the lines that contain the  pat-
           tern.
     -h    Suppress printing of filenames when searching multiple
           files.
     -i    Ignore upper/lower case distinction  during  comparis-
           ons.
     -l    Print the names of files  with  matching  lines  once,
           separated  by new-lines.  Does not repeat the names of
           files when the pattern is found more than once.
     -n    Precede each line by  its  line  number  in  the  file
           (first line is 1).
     -v    Print all lines except those that contain the pattern.
     -x    Print only lines matched entirely.
     -e special_string
           Search for a special string (string begins with a -).
     -f file
           Take the list of strings from file.

SEE ALSO
     ed(1), egrep(1), grep(1), sed(1), sh(1).

DIAGNOSTICS
     Exit status is 0 if any matches are found, 1 if none, 2  for



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fgrep(1)                 USER COMMANDS                   fgrep(1)



     syntax  errors  or  inaccessible files (even if matches were
     found).

BUGS
     Ideally there should be only one grep command, but there  is
     not  a  single  algorithm  that spans a wide enough range of
     space-time tradeoffs.  Lines are limited to  BUFSIZ  charac-
     ters;  longer  lines  are  truncated.   BUFSIZ is defined in
     /usr/include/stdio.h.














































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