Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 08:03:02 +1030 From: Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Marty Leisner <leisner@sdsp.mc.xerox.com>, Johann Visagie <wjv@cityip.co.za> Cc: Jake <jake@int.checker.org>, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: what does grep stand for? Message-ID: <19980302080302.64725@freebie.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <9803012048.AA15657@gnu.sdsp.mc.xerox.com>; from Marty Leisner on Sun, Mar 01, 1998 at 12:48:46PM -0800 References: <E0y9ETs-0005Wl-00@ns.cityip.co.za> <9803012048.AA15657@gnu.sdsp.mc.xerox.com>
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On Sun, 1 March 1998 at 12:48:46 -0800, Marty Leisner wrote:
>
> 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.
Why?
>> From the jargon file:
>
> :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}.
Where's the contradiction? Originally, in ed(1), to search for, say,
lines ending in foo
(like the previous one), you'd enter
g/foo$/p
It was rather inconvenient to start ed for this common function, so
they wrote grep instead.
Greg
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