Using GREP for special characters


 
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# 1  
Old 06-18-2009
Using GREP for special characters

Hi folks

I am issuing the following command:

grep "[\/:*?"<>|#+%&]" *

Looking for the characters \/:*?"<>|#+%& within all files in a directory, but the command fails being unhappy with pipe:

ksh: 0403-057 Syntax error: `|' is not expected.

How do I force the command to take the pipe | ? I guess the same is for *some* of the other symbols.

Regards, Dave
# 2  
Old 06-18-2009
The shell knows 3 kinds of quotes:
  • 'Single Quotes': Use that string as is, no parameter substitution, no globbing, ...
  • "Double Quotes": Use that string as is, after parameter expansion
  • `Backticks`: Use the output of the command between the backticks
So if you change you double to single quotes, it should run fine.
# 3  
Old 06-18-2009
Code:
grep "[[:punct:]]"

 
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