look(1) - phpMan

LOOK(1) User Commands LOOK(1)

NAME
look - display lines beginning with a given string

SYNOPSIS
look [options] string [file]

DESCRIPTION
The look utility displays any lines in file which contain string. As look performs a
binary search, the lines in file must be sorted (where sort(1) got the same options -d
and/or -f that look is invoked with).

If file is not specified, the file /usr/share/dict/words is used, only alphanumeric char-
acters are compared and the case of alphabetic characters is ignored.

OPTIONS
-a, --alternative
Use the alternative dictionary file.

-d, --alphanum
Use normal dictionary character set and order, i.e. only alphanumeric characters
are compared. (This is on by default if no file is specified.)

-f, --ignore-case
Ignore the case of alphabetic characters. (This is on by default if no file is
specified.)

-t, --terminate character
Specify a string termination character, i.e. only the characters in string up to
and including the first occurrence of character are compared.

-h, --help
Display help text and exit.

-V, --version
Output version information and exit.

The look utility exits 0 if one or more lines were found and displayed, 1 if no lines were
found, and >1 if an error occurred.

EXAMPLE
sort -d /etc/passwd -o /tmp/look.dict
look -t: root:foobar /tmp/look.dict

FILES
/usr/share/dict/words
the dictionary

/usr/share/dict/web2
the alternative dictionary