Usage:
* To search:
nimgrep [options] PATTERN [(FILE/DIRECTORY)*/-]
* To replace:
nimgrep [options] PATTERN --replace REPLACEMENT (FILE/DIRECTORY)*/-
* To list file names:
nimgrep [options] --filenames [PATTERN] [(FILE/DIRECTORY)*]
Positional arguments, from left to right:
1) PATTERN is either Regex (default) or Peg if `--peg` is specified.
PATTERN and REPLACEMENT should be skipped when `--stdin` is specified.
2) REPLACEMENT supports `$1`, `$#` notations for captured groups in PATTERN.
.. DANGER:: `--replace` mode **DOES NOT** ask confirmation
unless `--confirm` is specified!
3) Final arguments are a list of paths (FILE/DIRECTORY) or a standalone
minus `-` or not specified (empty):
* empty, current directory `.` is assumed (not with `--replace`)
.. Note:: so when no FILE/DIRECTORY/`-` is specified nimgrep
does **not** read the pipe, but searches files in the current
dir instead!
* `-`, read buffer once from stdin: pipe or terminal input;
in `--replace` mode the result is directed to stdout;
it's not compatible with `--stdin`, `--filenames`, or `--confirm`
For any given DIRECTORY nimgrep searches only its immediate files without
traversing subdirectories unless `--recursive` is specified.
In replacement mode we require all 3 positional arguments to avoid damaging.
Options:
* Mode of operation:
--find, -f find the PATTERN (default)
--replace, -! replace the PATTERN to REPLACEMENT, rewriting the files
--confirm confirm each occurrence/replacement; there is a chance
to abort any time without touching the file
--filenames just list filenames. Provide a PATTERN to find it in
the filenames (not in the contents of a file) or run
with empty pattern to just list all files:
nimgrep --filenames # In current dir
nimgrep --filenames "" DIRECTORY
# Note empty pattern "", lists all files in DIRECTORY
* Interprete patterns:
--peg PATTERN and PAT are Peg
--re PATTERN and PAT are regular expressions (default)
--rex, -x use the "extended" syntax for the regular expression
so that whitespace is not significant
--word, -w matches should have word boundaries (buggy for pegs!)
--ignoreCase, -i be case-insensitive in PATTERN and PAT
--ignoreStyle, -y be style insensitive in PATTERN and PAT
.. Note:: PATTERN and patterns PAT (see below in other options) are all either
Regex or Peg simultaneously and options `--rex`, `--word`, `--ignoreCase`,
and `--ignoreStyle` are applied to all of them.
* File system walk:
--recursive, -r process directories recursively
--follow follow all symlinks when processing recursively
--sortTime, -s[:asc|desc]
order files by the last modification time (default: off):
ascending (recent files go last) or descending
* Filter files (based on filesystem paths):
.. Hint:: Instead of `not` you can type just `n` for negative options below.
--ex[tensions]:EX1|EX2|...
only search the files with the given extension(s),
empty one (`--ex`) means files with missing extension
--notex[tensions]:EX1|EX2|...
exclude files having given extension(s), use empty one to
skip files with no extension (like some binary files are)
--fi[lename]:PAT search only files whose name matches pattern PAT
--notfi[lename]:PAT skip files whose name matches pattern PAT
--di[rname]:PAT select files that in their path have a directory name
that matches pattern PAT
--notdi[rname]:PAT do not descend into directories whose name (not path)
matches pattern PAT
--dirp[ath]:PAT select only files whose whole relative directory path
matches pattern PAT
--notdirp[ath]:PAT skip files whose whole relative directory path
matches pattern PAT
* Filter files (based on file contents):
--inF[ile]:PAT select files containing a (not displayed) match of PAT
--notinF[ile]:PAT skip files containing a match of PAT
--bin:on|off|only process binary files? (detected by \0 in first 1K bytes)
(default: on - binary and text files treated the same way)
--text, -t process only text files, the same as `--bin:off`
* Filter matches:
--inC[ontext]:PAT select only matches containing a match of PAT in their
surrounding context (multiline with `-c`, `-a`, `-b`)
--notinC[ontext]:PAT
skip matches not containing a match of PAT
in their surrounding context
* Represent results:
--nocolor output will be given without any colors
--color[:on] force color even if output is redirected (default: auto)
--colorTheme:THEME select color THEME from `simple` (default),
`bnw` (black and white), `ack`, or `gnu` (GNU grep)
--count only print counts of matches for files that matched
--context:N, -c:N print N lines of leading context before every match and
N lines of trailing context after it (default N: 0)
--afterContext:N, -a:N
print N lines of trailing context after every match
--beforeContext:N, -b:N
print N lines of leading context before every match
--group, -g group matches by file
--newLine, -l display every matching line starting from a new line
--cols[:N] limit max displayed columns/width of output lines from
files by N characters, cropping overflows (default: off)
--cols:auto, -% calculate columns from terminal width for every line
--onlyAscii, -@ display only printable ASCII Latin characters 0x20-0x7E
substitutions: 0 -> ^@, 1 -> ^A, ... 0x1F -> ^_,
0x7F -> '7F, ..., 0xFF -> 'FF
* Miscellaneous:
--threads:N, -j:N speed up search by N additional workers (default: 0, off)
--stdin read PATTERN from stdin (to avoid the shell's confusing
quoting rules) and, if `--replace` given, REPLACEMENT
--verbose be verbose: list every processed file
--help, -h shows this help
--version, -v shows the version