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Grep alternative to handle large numbers of files

 
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# 1  
Old 02-18-2009
Grep alternative to handle large numbers of files
I am looking for a file with 'MCR0000000716214' in it. I tried the following command:

grep MCR0000000716214 *

The problem is that the folder I am searching in has over 87000 files and I am getting the following:

bash: /bin/grep: Arg list too long

Is there any command I can use that can handle the large number of files?
# 2  
Old 02-18-2009
what is 'folder'?
look into 'man find' and 'man xargs'
Last edited by vgersh99; 02-18-2009 at 08:09 AM..
# 3  
Old 02-18-2009
find . -name MCR0000000716214
# 4  
Old 02-18-2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by taran
find . -name MCR0000000716214

Does this not just look for a file with that name in it?
# 5  
Old 02-18-2009
Quote:
Originally Posted by vgersh99
what is 'folder'?
Apologies I meant directory.
# 6  
Old 02-18-2009
if he means looking for this string in a huge number of files....

then this'll work:

Code:
find . -type f -exec grep MCR0000000716214 {} \; -print

if he means finding a file with that string in the file name itself...

Code:
/bin/ls *MCR0000000716214*

# 7  
Old 02-18-2009
however, if he doesn't want to do a recursive directory search . . .
he might try:

Code:
/bin/ls |
while read file ; do

  grep MCR0000000716214 $file /dev/null

done

 
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