g.list(1)

📦
version 8.4.2 · 8 versions
, in fedora 44

g.list 💅✨

okay bestie, welcome to g.list — the GRASS GIS User's Manual page for it, no cap. It lives in the GRASS GIS User's Manual and it's here to hand you a list of your GRASS database files of whatever data type you asked for, optionally filtered by a search pattern. it's giving ✨map management✨ and honestly? iconic.

🎀 KEYWORDS 🎀

general, map management, list, search — iykyk 🔍

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

g.list
g.list --help
g.list [-iretmpf] type=datatype[,datatype,...]  [pattern=string]
[exclude=string]   [mapset=name[,name,...]]   [separator=character]
[region=name]   [output=name]   [--overwrite]  [--help]  [--verbose]
[--quiet]  [--ui]

🦋 Flags 🦋

  • -i — ignore case, bestie. like, don't be so picky 💅
  • -r — use basic regular expressions instead of wildcards
  • -e — use extended regular expressions instead of wildcards
  • -t — print data types
  • -m — print fully-qualified map names (including mapsets), so you get the whole name AND the mapset. the full lore fr fr
  • -p — pretty printing, human readable format 🎀
  • -f — verbose listing (also list map titles)
  • --overwrite — allow output files to overwrite existing files (careful, girl 😭)
  • --help — print usage summary
  • --verbose — verbose module output
  • --quiet — quiet module output 🤫
  • --ui — force launching GUI dialog

💖 Parameters 💖

  • type=datatype[,datatype,...] [required] — data type(s). this one's mandatory, no skipping 👑
    • Options: raster, raster_3d, vector, label, region, group, all
    • raster: raster map(s)
    • raster_3d: 3D raster map(s)
    • vector: vector map(s)
    • label: paint label file(s)
    • region: region definition(s)
    • group: imagery group(s)
    • all: all types ✨
  • pattern=string — map name search pattern (default: all)
  • exclude=string — map name exclusion pattern (default: none)
  • mapset=name[,name,...] — name of mapset to list (default: current search path). '.' for current mapset; '*' for all mapsets in location
  • separator=character — field separator. Special characters: pipe, comma, space, tab, newline. Default: newline
  • region=name — name of saved region for map search (default: not restricted). '.' for current region; '*' for default region
  • output=name — name for output file. If not given or '-' then standard output

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

g.list searches for data files matching a pattern given by wildcards or POSIX Extended Regular Expressions. that's the whole vibe, bestie. search, match, list. 💅

⭐ NOTES ⭐

The output of g.list may be useful for other programs' parameter input (e.g. time series for r.series) when used with separator=comma. so like, it's not just pretty — it's feeding other modules too. teamwork makes the dream work 🫶

🧚 EXAMPLES 🧚

List all raster maps as continuous, sorted list:

g.list type=rast

List all vector maps as continuous, sorted list with MAPSET info (i.e. fully-qualified map names):

g.list type=vector -m

List all raster and vector maps ordered by mapset:

g.list type=raster -p

List all raster and vector maps as continuous, sorted list:

g.list type=rast,vect

List all available GRASS data base files:

g.list type=all

🍓 Mapset search path 🍓

If mapset is not specified, then g.list searches for data files in the mapsets that are included in the search path (defined by g.mapsets). See g.mapsets -p.

g.list rast -p
raster map(s) available in mapset <user1>:
dmt
...
raster map(s) available in mapset <PERMANENT>:
aspect
...

Option mapset=. (one dot) lists only data files from the current mapset:

g.list rast mapset=.
...

Similarly, mapset=* (one asterisk) prints data files from all available mapsets also including those that are not listed in the current search path (see g.mapsets -l).

g.list rast mapset=* -p
raster map(s) available in mapset <landsat>:
lsat5_1987_10
...
raster map(s) available in mapset <user1>:
dmt
...
raster map(s) available in mapset <PERMANENT>:
aspect
...

🌸 Wildcards 🌸

List all vector maps starting with letter "r":

g.list type=vector pattern="r*"

List all vector maps starting with letter "r" or "a":

g.list type=vector pattern="[ra]*"

List all raster maps starting with "soil_" or "landuse_":

g.list type=raster pattern="{soil,landuse}_*"

List certain raster maps with one variable character/number:

g.list type=raster pattern="N45E00?.meters"

Use of exclude parameter:

# without exclude:
  g.list rast pat="r*" mapset=PERMANENT
  railroads
  roads
  rstrct.areas
  rushmore
# exclude only complete word(s):
  g.list rast pat="r*" exclude=roads mapset=PERMANENT
  railroads
  rstrct.areas
  rushmore
# exclude with wildcard:
  g.list rast pat="r*" exclude="*roads*" mapset=PERMANENT
  rstrct.areas
  rushmore

💜 Regular expressions 💜

List all soil maps starting with "soils" in their name:

g.list -r type=raster pattern=’^soils’

List "tmp" if "tmp" raster map exists:

g.list -r type=raster pattern=’^tmp$’

List "tmp0" ..."tmp9" if corresponding vector map exists (each map name linewise):

g.list -r type=vector pattern=’^tmp[0-9]$’

List "tmp0"..."tmp9" if corresponding vector map exists (each map name comma separated):

g.list -r type=vector separator=comma pattern=’^tmp[0-9]$’

✨ Extended regular expressions ✨

List all precipitation maps for the years 1997-2012, comma separated:

g.list -e type=raster separator=comma pattern="precip_total.(199[7-9]|200[0-9]|201[0-2]).sum"

👑 Maps whose region overlaps with a saved region 👑

List all raster maps starting with "tmp_" whose region overlaps with the region of "test" raster map:

g.region raster=test save=test_region
g.list type=raster pattern=’tmp_*’ region=test_region

List "tmp0"..."tmp9" vector maps whose region overlaps with the current region:

g.list -r type=vector pattern=’^tmp[0-9]$’ region=.

List all raster and vector maps whose region overlaps with the default region of the PERMANENT mapset in the current project (DEFAULT_WIND):

g.list type=rast,vect region=*
Note that, without region=*, g.list type=rast,vect simply lists all available raster and vector maps from the current search path regardless of their region. don't get it twisted, bestie 😭

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

  • r.series
  • t.list
  • t.rast.list
  • t.vect.list
  • Regular expressions (aka regex) - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Huidae Cho grass4u@gmail.com based on general/manage/cmd/list.c by Michael Shapiro

💖 SOURCE CODE 💖

Available at: g.list source code (history)

Accessed: Saturday Jan 17 05:40:39 2026

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and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 okay so for the cute little sign-off: this was GRASS 8.4.2, © 2003-2025 GRASS Development Team, from the GRASS GIS 8.4.2 Reference Manual, and the footer said GRASS 8.4.2 next to g.list(1). go list some maps, you absolute icon 💅✨🌈

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