grep in all directories
grep, subdirectory
Solution
grep -R --include="*.c" --exclude-dir={DEF} writeFile /path/to/XYZ
- `-R` means recursive, so it will go into subdirectories of the directory you're grepping through
- `--include="*.c"` means "look for files ending in `.c`"
- `--exclude-dir={DEF}` means "exclude directories named `DEF`. If you want to exclude multiple directories, do this: `--exclude-dir={DEF,GBA,XYZ}`
- `writeFile` is the pattern you're grepping for
- `/path/to/XYZ` is the path to the directory you want to grep through.
Note that these flags apply to GNU `grep`, might be different if you're using BSD/SysV/AIX `grep`. If you're using Linux/GNU grep utils you should be fine.
Problem
I have a directory named XYZ which has directories ABC, DEF, GHI inside it. I want to search for a pattern 'writeText' in all *.c in all directories (i.e XYZ, XYZ/ABC, XYZ/DEF and XYZ/GHI) What grep command can I use? Also if I want to search only in XYZ, XYZ/ABC, XYZ/GHI and not XYZ/DEF, what grep command can I use? Thank you!