Ack - Revision history

Christoph at 00:03, 16 December 2012

2012-12-16T00:03:48Z

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Christoph: /* Usage */

2008-06-24T01:13:30Z

‎Usage

Christoph at 01:05, 24 June 2008

2008-06-24T01:05:01Z

New page

'''ack''' is a tool like [[grep]], aimed at programmers with large trees of heterogeneous source code. ack is written purely in [[Perl]], and takes advantage of the power of Perl's [[regular expression]]s.

==Usage==
''Note: Taken directly from the official website.''
<pre>
$ ack --help
Usage: ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES]

Search for PATTERN in each source file in the tree from cwd on down.
If [FILES] is specified, then only those files/directories are checked.
ack may also search STDIN, but only if no FILES are specified, or if
one of FILES is "-".

Default switches may be specified in ACK_OPTIONS environment variable or
an .ackrc file. If you want no dependency on the environment, turn it
off with --noenv.

Example: ack -i select

Searching:
-i, --ignore-case Ignore case distinctions in PATTERN
-v, --invert-match Invert match: select non-matching lines
-w, --word-regexp Force PATTERN to match only whole words
-Q, --literal Quote all metacharacters; PATTERN is literal

Search output:
--line=NUM Only print line(s) NUM of each file
-l, --files-with-matches
Only print filenames containing matches
-L, --files-without-match
Only print filenames with no match
-o Show only the part of a line matching PATTERN
(turns off text highlighting)
--passthru Print all lines, whether matching or not
--output=expr Output the evaluation of expr for each line
(turns off text highlighting)
--match PATTERN Specify PATTERN explicitly.
-m, --max-count=NUM Stop searching in each file after NUM matches
-1 Stop searching after one match of any kind
-H, --with-filename Print the filename for each match
-h, --no-filename Suppress the prefixing filename on output
-c, --count Show number of lines matching per file

-A NUM, --after-context=NUM
Print NUM lines of trailing context after matching
lines.
-B NUM, --before-context=NUM
Print NUM lines of leading context before matching
lines.
-C [NUM], --context[=NUM]
Print NUM lines (default 2) of output context.

--print0 Print null byte as separator between filenames,
only works with -f, -g, -l, -L or -c.

File presentation:
--pager=COMMAND Pipes all ack output through COMMAND.
Ignored if output is redirected.
--nopager Do not send output through a pager. Cancels any
setting in ~/.ackrc, ACK_PAGER or ACK_PAGER_COLOR.
--[no]heading Print a filename heading above each file's results.
(default: on when used interactively)
--[no]break Print a break between results from different files.
(default: on when used interactively)
--group Same as --heading --break
--nogroup Same as --noheading --nobreak
--[no]color Highlight the matching text (default: on unless
output is redirected, or on Windows)
--flush Flush output immediately, even when ack is used
non-interactively (when output goes to a pipe or
file).

File finding:
-f Only print the files found, without searching.
The PATTERN must not be specified.
-g REGEX Same as -f, but only print files matching REGEX.
--sort-files Sort the found files lexically.

File inclusion/exclusion:
-a, --all-types All file types searched;
Ignores CVS, .svn and other ignored directories
-u, --unrestricted All files and directories searched
--[no]ignore-dir=name Add/Remove directory from the list of ignored dirs
-n No descending into subdirectories
-G REGEX Only search files that match REGEX

--perl Include only Perl files.
--type=perl Include only Perl files.
--noperl Exclude Perl files.
--type=noperl Exclude Perl files.
See "ack --help type" for supported filetypes.

--type-add TYPE=.EXTENSION[,.EXT2[,...]]
Files with the given EXTENSION(s) are recognized as
being of (the existing) type TYPE
--type-set TYPE=.EXTENSION[,.EXT2[,...]]
Files with the given EXTENSION(s) are recognized as
being of type TYPE. This replaces an existing
definition for type TYPE.

--[no]follow Follow symlinks. Default is off.

Directories ignored by default:
autom4te.cache, blib, _build, .bzr, .cdv, cover_db, CVS, _darcs, ~.dep,
~.dot, .git, .hg, ~.nib, .pc, ~.plst, RCS, SCCS, _sgbak and .svn

Files not checked for type:
/~$/ - Unix backup files
/#.+#$/ - Emacs swap files
/[._].*\.swp$/ - Vi(m) swap files
/core\.\d+$/ - core dumps

Miscellaneous:
--noenv Ignore environment variables and ~/.ackrc
--help This help
--man Man page
--version Display version & copyright
--thpppt Bill the Cat

This is version 1.84 of ack.

$ ack --help-types
Usage: ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES]

The following is the list of filetypes supported by ack. You can
specify a file type with the --type=TYPE format, or the --TYPE
format. For example, both --type=perl and --perl work.

Note that some extensions may appear in multiple types. For example,
.pod files are both Perl and Parrot.

--[no]actionscript .as .mxml
--[no]asm .asm .s
--[no]batch .bat .cmd
--[no]binary Binary files, as defined by Perl's -B op (default: off)
--[no]cc .c .h .xs
--[no]cfmx .cfc .cfm .cfml
--[no]cpp .cpp .cc .cxx .m .hpp .hh .h .hxx
--[no]csharp .cs
--[no]css .css
--[no]elisp .el
--[no]erlang .erl
--[no]fortran .f .f77 .f90 .f95 .f03 .for .ftn .fpp
--[no]haskell .hs .lhs
--[no]hh .h
--[no]html .htm .html .shtml .xhtml
--[no]java .java .properties
--[no]js .js
--[no]jsp .jsp .jspx .jhtm .jhtml
--[no]lisp .lisp .lsp
--[no]lua .lua
--[no]make Makefiles
--[no]mason .mas .mhtml .mpl .mtxt
--[no]objc .m .h
--[no]objcpp .mm .h
--[no]ocaml .ml .mli
--[no]parrot .pir .pasm .pmc .ops .pod .pg .tg
--[no]perl .pl .pm .pod .t
--[no]php .php .phpt .php3 .php4 .php5
--[no]plone .pt .cpt .metadata .cpy .py
--[no]python .py
--[no]ruby .rb .rhtml .rjs .rxml .erb
--[no]scheme .scm
--[no]shell .sh .bash .csh .tcsh .ksh .zsh
--[no]skipped Files, but not directories, normally skipped by ack (default: off)
--[no]smalltalk .st
--[no]sql .sql .ctl
--[no]tcl .tcl .itcl .itk
--[no]tex .tex .cls .sty
--[no]text Text files, as defined by Perl's -T op (default: off)
--[no]tt .tt .tt2 .ttml
--[no]vb .bas .cls .frm .ctl .vb .resx
--[no]vim .vim
--[no]xml .xml .dtd .xslt .ent
--[no]yaml .yaml .yml
</pre>

==External links==
*[http://petdance.com/ack/ official website]
*[http://blog.i-no.de/archives/2008/05/06/index.html ack examples]

[[Category:Linux Command Line Tools]]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 ==Usage==
 ''Note: Taken directly from the official website.''
-Search for PATTERN in each source file in the tree from cwd on down.
+*Syntax:
-If [FILES] is specified, then only those files/directories are checked.
+ ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES]
-ack may also search STDIN, but only if no FILES are specified, or if
-one of FILES is "-".
-Default switches may be specified in ACK_OPTIONS environment variable or
+*Help:
-an .ackrc file. If you want no dependency on the environment, turn it
+ ack --help
-off with --noenv.
-Example: ack -i select
+Search for PATTERN in each source file in the tree from cwd on down. If [FILES] is specified, then only those files/directories are checked. ack may also search STDIN, but only if no FILES are specified, or if one of FILES is "-".
-Searching:
+Default switches may be specified in ACK_OPTIONS environment variable or an .ackrc file. If you want no dependency on the environment, turn it off with --noenv.
-  -i, --ignore-case     Ignore case distinctions in PATTERN
-  -v, --invert-match    Invert match: select non-matching lines
-  -w, --word-regexp     Force PATTERN to match only whole words
-  -Q, --literal         Quote all metacharacters; PATTERN is literal
-Search output:
+Example:
    --line=NUM            Only print line(s) NUM of each file
    -l, --files-with-matches
@@ Line 54: / Line 53: @@
                          only works with -f, -g, -l, -L or -c.
-File presentation:
+===File presentation===
    --pager=COMMAND       Pipes all ack output through COMMAND.
                          Ignored if output is redirected.
@@ Line 65: / Line 64: @@
    --group               Same as --heading --break
    --nogroup             Same as --noheading --nobreak
-   --[no]color           Highlight the matching text (default: on unless
+   --[no]color           Highlight the matching text (default: on unless output is redirected, or on Windows)
-                        output is redirected, or on Windows)
    --flush               Flush output immediately, even when ack is used
-                         non-interactively (when output goes to a pipe or
+                         non-interactively (when output goes to a pipe or file).
-                        file).
-File finding:
+===File finding===
    -f                    Only print the files found, without searching.
                          The PATTERN must not be specified.
@@ Line 77: / Line 74: @@
    --sort-files          Sort the found files lexically.
-File inclusion/exclusion:
+===File inclusion/exclusion===
    -a, --all-types       All file types searched;
                          Ignores CVS, .svn and other ignored directories
@@ Line 84: / Line 81: @@
    -n                    No descending into subdirectories
    -G REGEX              Only search files that match REGEX
    --perl                Include only Perl files.
    --type=perl           Include only Perl files.
@@ Line 90: / Line 86: @@
    --type=noperl         Exclude Perl files.
                          See "ack --help type" for supported filetypes.
    --type-add TYPE=.EXTENSION[,.EXT2[,...]]
                          Files with the given EXTENSION(s) are recognized as
@@ Line 98: / Line 93: @@
                          being of type TYPE. This replaces an existing
                          definition for type TYPE.
    --[no]follow          Follow symlinks.  Default is off.
@@ Line 111: / Line 105: @@
      /core\.\d+$/   - core dumps
-Miscellaneous:
+===Miscellaneous===
    --noenv               Ignore environment variables and ~/.ackrc
    --help                This help
@@ Line 118: / Line 112: @@
    --thpppt              Bill the Cat
-This is version 1.84 of ack.
+===Filetypes===
 The following is the list of filetypes supported by ack. You can specify a file type with the --type=TYPE format, or the --TYPE
-$ ack --help-types
+format. For example, both --type=perl and --perl work.
-Usage: ack [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILES]
-−
-The following is the list of filetypes supported by ack.  You can
 specify a file type with the --type=TYPE format, or the --TYPE
-format.  For example, both --type=perl and --perl work.
-Note that some extensions may appear in multiple types.  For example,
+Note that some extensions may appear in multiple types. For example, .pod files are both Perl and Parrot.
 .pod files are both Perl and Parrot.
      --[no]actionscript .as .mxml
@@ Line 174: / Line 162: @@
      --[no]xml          .xml .dtd .xslt .ent
      --[no]yaml         .yaml .yml
 ==External links==