LOOK(1)

NAME

look - find lines in a sorted list

SYNOPSIS

look [ -dfnixtc ] [ string ] [ file ]

DESCRIPTION

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

The following options are recognized. Options dfnt affect comparisons as in sort(1).

-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 partic

ipate 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.

-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

/src/cmd/look.c

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)