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NAME

look - find lines in a sorted list

SYNOPSIS

look [ -dfnix ] [ -r endkey ] [ -tc ] [ string ] [ file ]

DESCRIPTION

Look consults a sorted file and prints all lines that begin with string. It uses binary search.

The following options are recognised:


-i
Interactive. There is no string argument; instead look takes lines from the standard input as strings to be looked up.
-x
Exact. Print only lines of the file whose key matches string exactly.
-d
`Directory' order: only letters, digits, tabs and blanks participate in comparisons.
-f
Fold. Upper case letters compare equal to lower case.
-n
Numeric comparison with initial string of digits, optional minus sign, and optional decimal point.
-r endkey
Limit the range of matching values, to include the word endkey but no larger values.
-t[c]
Character c terminates the sort key in the file. By default, tab terminates the key. If c is missing the entire line comprises the key.

If no file is specified, /lib/words is assumed, with collating sequence df.

FILES

/lib/words

SOURCE

/appl/cmd/look.b

SEE ALSO

sort(1), grep(1)

DIAGNOSTICS

The exit status is not found if no match is found, and no dictionary if file or the default dictionary cannot be opened.

LOOK(1 ) Rev:  Tue Apr 10 19:36:09 GMT 2007