look

 

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 LOOK(1)                 System General Commands Manual                 LOOK(1)
 
NAME
      look - display lines beginning with a given string
 
SYNOPSIS
      look [-dfa] [-t termchar] string [file]
 
DESCRIPTION
      The look utility displays any lines in file which contain string as a
      prefix.  As look performs a binary search, the lines in file must be
      sorted (where sort(1) got the same options -d and/or -f that look is
      invoked with).
 
      If file is not specified, the file /usr/share/dict/words is used, only
      alphanumeric characters are compared and the case of alphabetic charac­
      ters is ignored.
 
      Options:
 
      -d      Dictionary character set and order, i.e. only alphanumeric char­
              acters are compared.
 
      -f      Ignore the case of alphabetic characters.
 
      -a      Use the alternate dictionary /usr/share/dict/web2
 
      -t      Specify a string termination character, i.e. only the characters
              in string up to and including the first occurrence of termchar
              are compared.
 
      The look utility exits 0 if one or more lines were found and displayed, 1
      if no lines were found, and >1 if an error occurred.
 
FILES
      /usr/share/dict/words  the dictionary
      /usr/share/dict/web2   the alternate dictionary
 
SEE ALSO
      grep(1), sort(1)
 
 COMPATIBILITY
      The original manual page stated that tabs and blank characters partici­
      pated in comparisons when the -d option was specified.  This was incor­
      rect and the current man page matches the historic implementation.
 
 HISTORY
      Look appeared in Version 7 AT&T Unix.
 
 BSD                              June 14, 1993                             BSD

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