findstr
Other names | qgrep |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Microsoft,ReactOS Contributors |
Operating system | Windows,ReactOS |
Platform | Cross-platform |
Type | Command |
License | Windows:Proprietarycommercial software ReactOS:GNU General Public License |
Website | docs |
Incomputing,findstris acommandin thecommand-line interpreters(shells) ofMicrosoft Windows[1][2]andReactOS.[3]It is used to search for a specifictext stringincomputer files.[4]
Overview
[edit]The command sends the specified lines to thestandard outputdevice.[5]
It is similar to thefind
command. However, while thefind
command supportsUTF-16,findstr
does not. On the other hand,findstr
supportsregular expressions,whichfind
does not.
Thefindstr
program was first released as part of theWindows 2000Resource Kitunder the nameqgrep
.[6]
findstr
cannot search fornull bytescommonly found inUnicodecomputer files.[7]
Syntax
[edit]FINDSTR flags strings [drive:][path]filename[...]
Arguments:
flags
This can be any combination of flags described below.strings
Text to be searched for.[drive:][path]filename
Specifies a file or files to search.
Flags:
/B
Matches pattern if at the beginning of a line./E
Matches pattern if at the end of a line./L
Uses search strings literally./R
Uses search strings as regular expressions./S
Searches for matching files in the current directory and all subdirectories./I
Specifies that the search is not to be case-sensitive./X
Prints lines that match exactly./V
Prints only lines that do not contain a match./N
Prints the line number before each line that matches./M
Prints only the filename if a file contains a match./O
Prints character offset before each matching line./P
Skip files with non-printable characters./OFF[LINE]
Do not skip files with offline attribute set./A:attr
Specifies color attribute with two hex digits. See "color /?"/F:file
Reads file list from the specified file(/ stands for console)./C:string
Uses specified string as a literal search string./G:file
Gets search strings from the specified file(/ stands for console)./D:dir
Search a semicolon delimited list of directories
Note: Following command displays the detailed help about this command:
FINDSTR /?
Example
[edit]Save your running services into file _services.txt and search in this file for lines containing word "network" - case insensitive:
@echooff
setsearchstr=network
net start>_services.txt
FINDSTR /I"%searchstr%"_services.txt
pause
output would be:
Network Connections
Network List Service
Network Location Awareness
Network Store Interface Service
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
Press any key to continue...
See also
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg/40px-Wikibooks-logo-en-noslogan.svg.png)
References
[edit]- ^Microsoft WinXP documentation for findstr
- ^Microsoft Server 2012/2016 documentation for findstr
- ^"Reactos/Reactos".GitHub.16 October 2021.
- ^MS-DOS and Windows command line findstr command
- ^Excellent documentation on usage of findstr
- ^History of Findstr from Raymond Chen
- ^Findstr - Search for strings - Windows CMD - SS64.com
Further reading
[edit]- Stanek, William R. (2008).Windows Command-Line Administrator's Pocket Consultant, 2nd Edition.Microsoft Press.ISBN978-0735622623.
- John Paul Mueller (2007).Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-0470165799.