grep command to search files containing a string

These commands all fill a list with the results of their search. Keep in mind though, that vimgrep can often be slower than grep, which will call an external program to do the dirty work.

'vimgrep' and 'lvimgrep' are part of Vim, and therefore are good for using on any system, especially if you want to use Vim-style regular expressions in your search. 'grep' and 'lgrep' use an external application to perform the search, and are great if you are running Vim on a system with a good file searching utility, if you are accustomed to using an external application for your searches, or if your search is not a complicated one. Vim provides these commands for searching files:Īll of these commands can be used to search for a regular expression in whatever files you specify. Vim has this feature, but it is a little hard to find. 5 Alternate Setup With Hotlinked Window Instead of Scrolling ListĪ useful feature in many text editors is the ability to search for regular expressions in multiple files.4 Using external programs for fast searches.

Grep command to search files containing a string