Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!olivea!oliveb!felix!asylvain@felix.UUCP
From: asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Re: DELIMITED search
Message-ID: <154695@felix.UUCP>
Date: 11 Dec 90 20:25:13 GMT
References: <1092@vm.ucs.UAlberta.CA> <339@tslwat.UUCP> <107@deeptht.UUCP> <1990Dec3.171557.16350@informix.com>
Sender: daemon@felix.UUCP
Reply-To: asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain)
Distribution: na
Organization: FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, CA
Lines: 25

In article <1990Dec3.171557.16350@informix.com> dberg@informix.com (David I. Berg) writes:
> In article <107@deeptht.UUCP> spcecdt@deeptht.santa-cruz.ca.us (John DuBois) writes:
> >In article <1990Oct29.134654.18929@cid.aes.doe.CA>, afsipmh@cidsv01.cid.aes.doe.CA writes:
> > 
> >> How, in general, can I do delimited searches in UNIX. i.e. How do I
> >> search for say the string "the" without finding there their other
> >> thesaurus...... AND including "the" at the beginning and end of a line
> >> eh?
> >
> The delimiters \< and \> will delimit the first and last characters of
> a logical word. This syntax can be used in vi or any of the greps.
> To find "the" without also finding all the words in which "the" is
> contained as a string, find \<the\>.

Just a small note: not all systems have a grep version that supports the
\< and \> escapes.  (vi nearly always does).  In these versions of grep,
there is usually a -w (or other) option which does the same thing.  
Altho that's not guaranteed everywhere, either.  As with all things, 
your mileage may vary.
--
asylvain@felix.UUCP (Alvin "the Chipmunk" Sylvain)
========================= Opinions are Mine, Typos belong to /usr/ucb/vi
"We're sorry, but the reality you have dialed is no longer in service.
Please check the value of pi, or see your SysOp for assistance."
{}hplabs!felix!asylvain ================================================