Findstr command the Grep equivalent for Windows




It has been a while since I use a computer with Windows Operating System. However, I have no choice today since I'm working on a computer provided by client.

In the course of understanding the legacy codes....I need to search the legacy source codes with the grep command. Wait, there's no grep command in Windows!

A friend introduces this nifty tool - findstr. The grep equivalent command in Windows world.

For example :

In Linux

$ ls -ls | grep filename

In Windows

c:\> dir | findstr filename


For multiple strings search with case insensitive example :

In Linux

$ ls -ls | grep -iE "testdata|lifo"

In Windows - empty space to replace pipe | for multiple strings

c:\> dir | findstr -i "testdata lifo"


And to search through a list of file example

In Linux

$ grep searchtag -lr /path/directory

In Windows

c:\> findstr /M searchtag c:\directory\*

Hope this helps!

Reference :

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490907.aspx





By Adam Ng

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