Grep file search returns: Is a directory in OSX Mountain Lion

Question

I am trying to search for a specific file using the example How do I use grep command to search a file?

Trying grep searchingforfile /Users/myuser/path/to/dir returns:

grep: /Users/myuser/path/to/dir: Is a directory

Please let me know what is the best way to search for a file then in this case.

Answer 1

If you want to find files which begin with f in the current directory:

ls f*

If you want to find files ending with "jpg" in the current directory and all directories below:

find . -type f -name "*.jpg" -print

If you want filenames containing pattern in current directory and below:

find . -type f -name "pattern" -print

but put an asterisk either side of the pattern (I can't do it on here)

Or, if your pattern is more complicated

find . -type f -print | grep "someFunkyPattern"

If you want to search for pattern in a file called fred:

grep pattern fred

If you want to search for bill or steve in files called friends1 and friends2 and you don't care about case (capital letters) use the -i option:

egrep -i "steve|fred" friends1 friends2

If you want to search for Mike in all files whose names start with "friend*":

grep Mike friend*