[SOLVED] How to use the grep with globs patterns? (like we use it in find command)

Issue

Let's see if we want to find all file name as below format

gstreamer_abc.c
gstreamer_xyz.c
gstreamer_abcxyz.c

then we can use find command as below

find ./ -iname "gstreamer_*.c"

Same way i need to grep some APIs in file as below

gstABCNode()
gstAnythingCanBeHereNode()
gstXyzNode()

I am trying something

grep -rni "gst*Node"  ./
grep -rni "gst^\*Node" ./

But it does not gives what i need here. First is it possible to search with grep like this or if possible then how to grep such pattern?

Solution

Your problem is that find uses "globs" while grep uses regular expressions. With find, * means "a string of any length". With grep, * means "any number of times the element (character) that precedes". This way, your command:

grep -rni "gst*Node"  ./

searches for any string that starts with gs, any number of times t, and Node (which is presumably not what you want). Try rather:

grep -rni "gst.*Node"  ./

The . means "any character", so .* really means "a string of any length".

Answered By - Vincent Fourmond

Answer Checked By - Willingham (WPSolving Volunteer)