grep

3 definitions found

grep - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  grep
  
     <tool, information science> <tool> A Unix command for
     searching files for lines matching a given regular expression
      (RE).  Named after the qed/ed editor
     subcommand "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.  There are two other variants,
     fgrep which searches only for fixed strings and egrep which
     accepts extended REs but is usually the fastest of the three.
  
     Used by extension to mean "to look for something by pattern".
     When browsing through a large set of files, one may speak of
     "grepping around".  "Grep the bulletin board for the system
     backup schedule, would you?"  See also vgrep.
  
     [Jargon File]
  

grep - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  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.
  
     [It has been alleged that the source is from the title of a paper "A
     General Regular Expression Parser", but dmr confirms the g/re/p
     etymology --ESR]
  

grep - V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2006) :

  GREP
         Global Regular Expression Print (Unix)