Grep like tool

A multithreaded file search tool implemented in C++. It searches for a given query string or regular expression across a directory tree, optionally filtering by file extension and case sensitivity.

Features

• Multithreaded directory traversal and file searching
• Supports both substring and regex-based matching
• Optional case-insensitive search
• Filters files by extension
• Ignores binary files automatically
• Warns if regex-looking pattern is used without --regex

Usage

  ./mb_grep <query> <directory> [--regex] [--ignore-case] [--ext=.txt]

Options

Flag	Description
--regex	Treat the query as a regular expression
--ignore-case	Perform a case-insensitive search
--ext=.ext	Only search files with this extension

Example

  ./mb_grep error /var/log --ignore-case --regex --ext=.log

This searches for the regex error in all .log files under /var/log, ignoring case.

Build

Linux/MacOS

First of all set the execution rights to the scripts folder, execute the command below in project root folder.

  chmod -R +x scripts/

Run the provided build script:

  make build

It will build Release and Debug builds.

Windows

If you use Windows you will have to build the project using CMake tool.
Alternatively, you can use MS Visual Studio as an IDE it already supports CMake based projects.

Run

Go to the build folder and execute something like that:

  ./mb_grep error /var/log --ignore-case --regex --ext=.log

Note: May require superuser rights to visit some directories.

Clean

Removes all generated binaries or temporary files.

Linux/MacOS

Make sure that you've already executed this command:

  chmod -R +x scripts/

then do:

  make clean

Windows

If you use Windows you will have to clean the project via CMake tool or try MS Visual Studio out, it supports CMake based projects nowadays.

Pattern Debug Tip

If your query is a regex-like pattern (e.g. n+im, .*, ^pattern) but --regex is not set, results may be unexpected.Make sure to use --regex to treat it as a regular expression.
The application will print the warning like that:
Warning: The pattern "n+im" looks like a regular expression, but --regex flag was not set. and stops execution.

Tested Compilers

This project has been tested with the following compilers:

Compiler	Version	Platform
GCC	13.3.0	Ubuntu 24.04
Apple Clang	16.0.0	macOS 14
MSVC	19.41.34120 (VS 2022)	Windows 11