LOOK(1plan9)

📦 version 6, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 LOOK(1plan9) 💖

okay bestie, so this is look from the Plan 9 manual, section 1, and it's literally the most underrated lil tool. it finds lines in a sorted list. that's it. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

look — find lines in a sorted list 🔍

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

look [ -dfnixtc ] [ string ] [ file ]

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so look walks up to a sorted file and prints every single line that begins with string. and the way it does it? binary search. no cap, it's fast, it's elegant, it's giving main character energy. ✨

here's the options it recognizes, and heads up — the options dfnt affect comparisons exactly the same way they do in sort(1), iykyk. 🫶

  • -i — Interactive. there's no string argument at all; instead look takes lines from the standard input and treats each one as a string to be looked up. so you just keep feeding it vibes. 🍓
  • -x — Exact. print only the lines of the file whose key matches string exactly. no fuzzy matching, no extras, just precision. 💅
  • -d — `Directory' order: only letters, digits, tabs and blanks participate in comparisons. everything else is lowkey ignored. 🙈
  • -f — Fold. upper case letters compare equal to lower case. so A and a are besties now. 💜
  • -n — Numeric comparison with an initial string of digits, optional minus sign, and optional decimal point. numbers getting the respect they deserve. 🔥
  • -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. that's the whole line, bestie, no crumbs. 😭

and if you don't specify a file? look just assumes /lib/words, with collating sequence df. iconic default behavior honestly. 👑

🦋 FILES 🦋

  • /lib/words

🌈 SOURCE 🌈

  • /src/cmd/look.c

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

⭐ DIAGNOSTICS ⭐

listen up, this part matters! 👀

the exit status is not found''</red> if no match is found, and <red>no dictionary'' if file or the default dictionary cannot be opened. so if things go quiet, check your exit status, bestie. 💀

and that's the whole page!! 🌸 this was LOOK(1plan9) from the Plan 9 manual, section 1 — mwah, slay, periodt. 💖✨🦋

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