what is the command "grep" used for?

it's used to search files for words, words strings or what ever

is it used like "whereis"?

Hi,
Grep searches one or more input files for lines containing a match to a specified pattern. By default, grep prints the matching lines.
Dallam

go to a command prompt and type:

'man grep'

then try

'man whereis'

look, if yur going to just tell me to look at the man pages etc dont bother else i wouldnt come to this forum to ask...

hi,
try these out:

grep foo file returns all the lines that contain a string matching the expression "foo" in the file "file".

ls |grep blah lists all files in the current directory containing the string "blah"

try doing a search on grep and see all the info it turns up.There are pages and pages of information out there on grep and the commands.
Dallam

Well, frankly, if you aren't willing to read the man pages first, then you probably shouldn't waste other folks time with your questions.

Your question: "What is grep used for?"

From the man page for grep:
"Grep searches the named input FILEs (or standard input if no files are named, or the file name - is given) for lines containing a match to the given PATTERN. By default, grep prints the matching lines."

Your question: "Is it used like whereis?"

From the man page for whereis:
"whereis locates source/binary and manuals sections for
specified files. The supplied names are first stripped of
leading pathname components and any (single) trailing
extension of the form .ext, for example, .c. Prefixes of
s. resulting from use of source code control are also
dealt with. whereis then attempts to locate the desired
program in a list of standard Linux places." (so the clear inference would be "NO, its not used like whereis")


I am gonna go out on a limb and say that everyone that regularly participates in this forum does so out of a genuine interest in helping others. I don't think its too much to ask that someone read the documentation that comes with a product.

well, just an opinion but i think it is a timewaster for me personally, as i have always learned far better when a person explains things to me in layman's terms. sorry for being so dyslexic...

Assuming you are coming from Windows (probably most of us did) - it's like the Find command on the Start menu. The commands Find and Whereis are like if you put text in the "Named" box - they find filenames. Grep is like if you put text in the "Containing text" box - it finds files that contain the text specified. Very useful if you are looking for that great recipe that used kiwi, but can't remember where the file is or what it was called...
/js