how to grep for a word and display only the word

ananthmm · #1 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006

Hi,

When we "grep" for a word in a file, it returns the lines containing the word that we searched for. Is there a way to display only the words and not the entire line containing them.

Thanks

Ananth

ask.jackal · #2 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006

grep -o works on linux. Not sure of the Solaris/HP etc.

John Arackal

vino · #3 (**permalink**) 11-30-2006

Or you could use sed to get a grep -o effect.

Code:

sed -n -e "s/.*\(search string\).*/\1/p" input.txt

knowledge_gain · #4 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007

Using grep -o in linux, it gives the list wherever the pattern appears. The file
input_file has "Hello World
Hi Hello Hello Hello
Hello
Bye
"
for eg: grep -o "Hello" input_file
Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello

sed -n -e "s/.*\(Hello\).*/\1/p" input_file
But in using sed, it prints One Hello per line, becoz of \1.

Is it any other way to print same as in linux.

TIA

anbu23 · #5 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by knowledge_gain

Using grep -o in linux, it gives the list wherever the pattern appears. The file
input_file has "Hello World
Hi Hello Hello Hello
Hello
Bye
"
for eg: grep -o "Hello" input_file
Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello
Hello

sed -n -e "s/.*\(Hello\).*/\1/p" input_file
But in using sed, it prints One Hello per line, becoz of \1.

Is it any other way to print same as in linux.

TIA

Code:

sed -n -e "s/\(Hello\)/\1\\
/gp" file | sed -n -e "s/.*\(Hello\).*/\1/p"

knowledge_gain · #6 (**permalink**) 06-20-2007

Thanks. The output is same as expected.

siba.s.nayak · #7 (**permalink**) 05-29-2008

It would be better if you use -w option to grep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ananthmm

Hi,

When we "grep" for a word in a file, it returns the lines containing the word that we searched for. Is there a way to display only the words and not the entire line containing them.

Thanks

Ananth

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