CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxbashshellgrep
user2957449
user2957449

Reputation: 51

How to use grep in a shell script to find a word inside of a file

How can I use grep to find an exact word inside of a file entered by the user as string?

For example I need to select the word I want to find and the file I want to find it in. I've been told I am really close but something is not working as it should be. I'm using bash shell under Linux.

Here's what I've done so far:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Find the file you want to search the word in?"
read filename
echo "Enter the word you want to find."  
read word1
grep $word1 $filename

Upvotes: 3

Views: 83546

Answers (4)

user6371909
user6371909

Reputation: 21

If you want an exact word match within lines use
grep "\b$word\b"

Upvotes: 0

Sushmita Konar
Sushmita Konar

Reputation: 191

#!/bin/bash/
echo "Find the file you want to search the word in?"   
read filename  
echo "Enter the word you want to find."   
read word  
cat $filename | grep "$word"

This works fine to find the exact word match in a file.

Upvotes: 1

John McLane
John McLane

Reputation: 27

Try:

grep -R WORD ./ to search the entire current directory, or grep WORD ./path/to/file.ext to search inside a specific file.

Upvotes: 1

jkshah
jkshah

Reputation: 11703

How can I use grep to find an exact word inside of a file entered by the user as string.

Try using -F option. Type man grep on shell for more details.

grep -F "$word1" "$filename"

It's recommended to enclose search string and file name with quotes to avoid unexpected output because of white spaces.

Not sure why you have fi on the last line. It's not needed.

Upvotes: 6

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