grep contents of a set of files from find

Question

I want to grep contents of all CMakeLists.txt files in a project (nested within a directory) so I can jump from each instance, like I would when running emacs grep function. In the examples below I'm looking for "Boost".

I can get the results I want with the following command in bash:

grep Boost $(find . -name CMakeLists.txt)

I tried:

• in eshell calling $grep Boost $(find . -name CmakeLists.txt)
• calling emacs-grep with grep --color -nH --null -e Boost $(find . -name CMakeLists.txt)
• noodling around with projectile.

So far with no success. Can someone enlighten me?

Answer 1

I'm not sure I understand the question, so maybe this won't help, but...

There's command find-grep-dired. Here's its doc from the version in find-dired+.el:

find-grep-dired is an interactive compiled Lisp function in find-dired+.el.

It is bound to menu-bar search find find-grep-dired, menu-bar subdir find find-grep-dired.

(find-grep-dired DIR REGEXP &optional DEPTH-LIMITS EXCLUDED-PATHS)

Use Dired on the list of files in DIR whose contents match REGEXP.

The find command run (after changing into DIR) is essentially this, where LS-SWITCHES is (car find-ls-option):

find . \( -type f -exec grep grep-program find-grep-options \
  -e REGEXP {} \; \) LS-SWITCHES

Thus REGEXP can also contain additional grep options.

Optional arg DEPTH-LIMITS is a list (MIN-DEPTH MAX-DEPTH) of the minimum and maximum depths. If nil, search directory tree under DIR.

Optional arg EXCLUDED-PATHS is a list of strings that match paths to exclude from the search. If nil, search all directories.

When both optional args are non-nil, the find command run is this:

find .
 -mindepth MIN-DEPTH -maxdepth MAX-DEPTH
  \( -path EXCLUDE1 -o -path EXCLUDE2 ... \)
  -prune -o -exec grep-program find-grep-options -e REGEXP {} \;
  LS-SWITCHES

where EXCLUDE1, EXCLUDE2... are the EXCLUDED-PATHS, but shell-quoted.

---

There's also command find-dired, which is essentially a general find command:

find-dired is an interactive compiled Lisp function in find-dired+.el.

(find-dired DIR ARGS &optional DEPTH-LIMITS EXCLUDED-PATHS)

Run find and put its output in a buffer in Dired Mode.

Then run find-dired-hook and dired-after-readin-hook.

The find command run (after changing into DIR) is essentially this, where LS-SWITCHES is (car find-ls-option):

find . \( ARGS \) LS-SWITCHES

Optional args:

• DEPTH-LIMITS: Minimum and maximum depths: (MIN-DEPTH MAX-DEPTH).

• EXCLUDED-PATHS: Strings matching paths to be excluded. Uses find switch -path.

When both optional args are non-nil, the find command run is this:

find . -mindepth MIN-DEPTH -maxdepth MAX-DEPTH
       \( -path EXCLUDE1 -o -path EXCLUDE2 ... \)
       -prune -o \( ARGS \) LS-SWITCHES

where EXCLUDE1, EXCLUDE2... are the EXCLUDED-PATHS, but shell-quoted.

Answer 2

If I'm reading the question rightly, you want M-x find-grep

You would run that and then edit the template, adding the files names to search, and the pattern to grep. The before/after would be something like this:

find . -type f -exec grep --color -nH --null -e  \{\} +
find . -type f -name CmakeLists.txt -exec grep --color -nH --null -e 'Boost' \{\} +
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^                                  ^^^^^^^

You would enter the grep pattern first, as Emacs puts the cursor at that position in the prompt (after the -e); but you can then edit the rest of the options as required. By default, if you enter only a grep pattern, the command will search all regular files.