How do I search a file using “less” for a value with a decimal point?
So I less my file:
less myFile.log
Then I try to search for a value:
/70.5
I've since learned less uses regex, so .
is a wildcard. I've tried to escape it with no success.
regular-expression less
add a comment |
So I less my file:
less myFile.log
Then I try to search for a value:
/70.5
I've since learned less uses regex, so .
is a wildcard. I've tried to escape it with no success.
regular-expression less
11
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago
add a comment |
So I less my file:
less myFile.log
Then I try to search for a value:
/70.5
I've since learned less uses regex, so .
is a wildcard. I've tried to escape it with no success.
regular-expression less
So I less my file:
less myFile.log
Then I try to search for a value:
/70.5
I've since learned less uses regex, so .
is a wildcard. I've tried to escape it with no success.
regular-expression less
regular-expression less
edited 2 days ago
Rui F Ribeiro
39.5k1479133
39.5k1479133
asked 2 days ago
xeon48xeon48
1314
1314
11
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago
add a comment |
11
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago
11
11
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
/70.5
will do the trick (inside less
).
5
Alternatively:/70[.]5
.
– jamesdlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
You can turn off regex mode by hitting Ctrl+R before typing the pattern:
^R Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; that is,
do a simple textual comparison.
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't thinkmore
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)
– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)
– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
add a comment |
Two search expressions for numbers in less
/.*[0-9]+.* # for numbers
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+ # for numbers with a decimal part
Regex to search for numbers (with or without a decimal)
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
.*[0-9]+.*
You start the search engine with /
, so if you want to find decimal numbers, but avoid text with dots (like file.txt) or periods between sentences, I think the following string is rather good,
/.*[0-9]+.*
Test file
There are several ways to use a dot. Here are some examples:
- 'Period' finishing a sentence
- Short for current directory or 'source' command in linux shells
- Separator between the name and extension of a file
- Separator in between the integer part and decimal part of a number
- Separator in special numerical or litteral strings (for example IP adress)
The following regex expression is rather simple and can identify
- numbers
- numerial strings
.*[0-9]+.*
.bashrc
hello-0
170.5
text.txt
170
170.
.551
asdf 170.5 qwerty
192.168.1.1
file.000
file.001
Regex to search for numbers with a decimal part
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
[0-9]*.[0-9]+
The corresponding search command is
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+
It will also find numerical strings (for example IP address), in general digits after a dot (including digits before the dot, if any).
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single.
.*
matches on zero or more.
– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?
– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).
– sudodus
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
/70.5
will do the trick (inside less
).
5
Alternatively:/70[.]5
.
– jamesdlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
/70.5
will do the trick (inside less
).
5
Alternatively:/70[.]5
.
– jamesdlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
/70.5
will do the trick (inside less
).
/70.5
will do the trick (inside less
).
answered 2 days ago
Stephen KittStephen Kitt
167k24376454
167k24376454
5
Alternatively:/70[.]5
.
– jamesdlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
5
Alternatively:/70[.]5
.
– jamesdlin
2 days ago
5
5
Alternatively:
/70[.]5
.– jamesdlin
2 days ago
Alternatively:
/70[.]5
.– jamesdlin
2 days ago
add a comment |
You can turn off regex mode by hitting Ctrl+R before typing the pattern:
^R Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; that is,
do a simple textual comparison.
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't thinkmore
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)
– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)
– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
add a comment |
You can turn off regex mode by hitting Ctrl+R before typing the pattern:
^R Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; that is,
do a simple textual comparison.
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't thinkmore
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)
– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)
– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
add a comment |
You can turn off regex mode by hitting Ctrl+R before typing the pattern:
^R Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; that is,
do a simple textual comparison.
You can turn off regex mode by hitting Ctrl+R before typing the pattern:
^R Don't interpret regular expression metacharacters; that is,
do a simple textual comparison.
answered 2 days ago
steeldriversteeldriver
35.5k35286
35.5k35286
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't thinkmore
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)
– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)
– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
add a comment |
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't thinkmore
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)
– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)
– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
Amazing trick, thanks for this! Is it specific to less?
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't think
more
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)– steeldriver
2 days ago
@xeon48 likely it is - at least, I don't think
more
supports it (although other pagers may provide something equivalent)– steeldriver
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
Thanks steel, I'll play around with it when I get a chance :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (
fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
@xeon48 : it seems specific to less, but there are some alternatives (
fgrep "something" file(s)
: will look for the exact string "something" in the file(s), doing a car by car comparison and not as a regexp)– Olivier Dulac
yesterday
add a comment |
Two search expressions for numbers in less
/.*[0-9]+.* # for numbers
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+ # for numbers with a decimal part
Regex to search for numbers (with or without a decimal)
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
.*[0-9]+.*
You start the search engine with /
, so if you want to find decimal numbers, but avoid text with dots (like file.txt) or periods between sentences, I think the following string is rather good,
/.*[0-9]+.*
Test file
There are several ways to use a dot. Here are some examples:
- 'Period' finishing a sentence
- Short for current directory or 'source' command in linux shells
- Separator between the name and extension of a file
- Separator in between the integer part and decimal part of a number
- Separator in special numerical or litteral strings (for example IP adress)
The following regex expression is rather simple and can identify
- numbers
- numerial strings
.*[0-9]+.*
.bashrc
hello-0
170.5
text.txt
170
170.
.551
asdf 170.5 qwerty
192.168.1.1
file.000
file.001
Regex to search for numbers with a decimal part
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
[0-9]*.[0-9]+
The corresponding search command is
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+
It will also find numerical strings (for example IP address), in general digits after a dot (including digits before the dot, if any).
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single.
.*
matches on zero or more.
– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?
– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).
– sudodus
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
Two search expressions for numbers in less
/.*[0-9]+.* # for numbers
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+ # for numbers with a decimal part
Regex to search for numbers (with or without a decimal)
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
.*[0-9]+.*
You start the search engine with /
, so if you want to find decimal numbers, but avoid text with dots (like file.txt) or periods between sentences, I think the following string is rather good,
/.*[0-9]+.*
Test file
There are several ways to use a dot. Here are some examples:
- 'Period' finishing a sentence
- Short for current directory or 'source' command in linux shells
- Separator between the name and extension of a file
- Separator in between the integer part and decimal part of a number
- Separator in special numerical or litteral strings (for example IP adress)
The following regex expression is rather simple and can identify
- numbers
- numerial strings
.*[0-9]+.*
.bashrc
hello-0
170.5
text.txt
170
170.
.551
asdf 170.5 qwerty
192.168.1.1
file.000
file.001
Regex to search for numbers with a decimal part
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
[0-9]*.[0-9]+
The corresponding search command is
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+
It will also find numerical strings (for example IP address), in general digits after a dot (including digits before the dot, if any).
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single.
.*
matches on zero or more.
– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?
– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).
– sudodus
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
Two search expressions for numbers in less
/.*[0-9]+.* # for numbers
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+ # for numbers with a decimal part
Regex to search for numbers (with or without a decimal)
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
.*[0-9]+.*
You start the search engine with /
, so if you want to find decimal numbers, but avoid text with dots (like file.txt) or periods between sentences, I think the following string is rather good,
/.*[0-9]+.*
Test file
There are several ways to use a dot. Here are some examples:
- 'Period' finishing a sentence
- Short for current directory or 'source' command in linux shells
- Separator between the name and extension of a file
- Separator in between the integer part and decimal part of a number
- Separator in special numerical or litteral strings (for example IP adress)
The following regex expression is rather simple and can identify
- numbers
- numerial strings
.*[0-9]+.*
.bashrc
hello-0
170.5
text.txt
170
170.
.551
asdf 170.5 qwerty
192.168.1.1
file.000
file.001
Regex to search for numbers with a decimal part
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
[0-9]*.[0-9]+
The corresponding search command is
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+
It will also find numerical strings (for example IP address), in general digits after a dot (including digits before the dot, if any).
Two search expressions for numbers in less
/.*[0-9]+.* # for numbers
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+ # for numbers with a decimal part
Regex to search for numbers (with or without a decimal)
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
.*[0-9]+.*
You start the search engine with /
, so if you want to find decimal numbers, but avoid text with dots (like file.txt) or periods between sentences, I think the following string is rather good,
/.*[0-9]+.*
Test file
There are several ways to use a dot. Here are some examples:
- 'Period' finishing a sentence
- Short for current directory or 'source' command in linux shells
- Separator between the name and extension of a file
- Separator in between the integer part and decimal part of a number
- Separator in special numerical or litteral strings (for example IP adress)
The following regex expression is rather simple and can identify
- numbers
- numerial strings
.*[0-9]+.*
.bashrc
hello-0
170.5
text.txt
170
170.
.551
asdf 170.5 qwerty
192.168.1.1
file.000
file.001
Regex to search for numbers with a decimal part
This regex works in less
but also in other cases where the same regex syntax is used.
[0-9]*.[0-9]+
The corresponding search command is
/[0-9]*.[0-9]+
It will also find numerical strings (for example IP address), in general digits after a dot (including digits before the dot, if any).
edited 2 days ago
answered 2 days ago
sudodussudodus
1,30616
1,30616
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single.
.*
matches on zero or more.
– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?
– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).
– sudodus
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single.
.*
matches on zero or more.
– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?
– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).
– sudodus
2 days ago
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
Thanks for this, it will come in useful. Though the lesson learned here is brush up on my regex :)
– xeon48
2 days ago
1
1
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single .
. *
matches on zero or more.– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
[0-9]*.[0-9]*
matches on a single .
. *
matches on zero or more.– Stéphane Chazelas
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
@StéphaneChazelas, Yes, I know, and I am busy trying to get around that without getting a complicated expression ...
– sudodus
2 days ago
1
1
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even [0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
[0-9]+(.[0-9]*)?
or even [0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?
maybe?– Stephen Kitt
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string
.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).– sudodus
2 days ago
@StephenKitt, I think your first expression finds the same 'candidates' as my first string
.*[0-9]+.*
in the current version of the answer. Your second string will exclude some of dots (which may be good or bad depending on what the user wants to see).– sudodus
2 days ago
|
show 3 more comments
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11
How did you "try to escape it with no success" without using a backslash?
– Xen2050
2 days ago