in linux how to find files by the keyword in content?

[sidneyluo]

how can i find a file by a key word in the content in liunx? what command can i use?

 

[mtarek16]

grep [options] pattern [file]

'pattern' would be the word/sentence you're searching for.

Normally grep will output the matching lines from each file, which some (like me) don't find really useful without using the following options :
-n prints the matching line's number.
-l doesn't print the content, just only lists the files with matches found.
-c prints a list of searched files and the count of matches within each.

if you're searching in a directory that contains other directories you'll need to provide the option -r to search recursively. omit it to search the files *just* in this directory.

Also if you are searching within system files, some errors may be generated, so pass grep the option -s to suppress those errors.

last, if your pattern is just one word, you could type the word without any surrounding quotes, if it's sentence, you'll need to write it within double quotes ..

example : searching for "float x" in a source tree :

grep -r [-c -n -l] "float x" *

the asterisk '*' means "all files".

Experiment a little with it till you find the options that work for you.

 

[sidneyluo]

thank mtarek16, thank you for your detailed reply.

 

[hieuphong]

you can use "grep and egrep or find" command
grep/egrep partem file
Have fun!!!