avolio@decuac.UUCP (Frederick M. Avolio) (02/06/86)
In <245@aero.ARPA> sutton@aero.UUCP (Stew Sutton) writes: > We are looking for a utility that can, when given a arbitrary string, > can locate all occurences of that string anywhere on the system. ... In article <139@wgivax.UUCP>, mo@wgivax.UUCP flames about untested "solutions" posted to the net in answer to questions. There have been many solutions (real or otherwise) posted to this question. All I'd like to add is the suggestion DON'T DO IT. Before you search for an occurence of a string in a set of files, always hone down that set of files to a reasonable subset. If it is something coming from a library, look ONLY in directories containing libraries or their sources. If it is something coming from an executable, search only in directories that contain executables. If you know it is in the operating system, only search directories containing operating system sources. There is a big difference in the number of files searched between "find / ...." and "find /usr/src/sys ...". A little smarts go a long way... -- Fred @ DEC Ultrix Applications Center {decvax,seismo,cbosgd}!decuac!avolio