How to search for text files containing a text string on a linux system

Question

I want to collect and move all text files that contain the string “MEDIUM” that are present in my subdirectories on a linux system, to a new folder called MEDIUM_files. I am able to collect all files containing MEDIUM by using

ls *MEDIUM*

but I only want the text files.

All the files contain MEDIUM, but they also differ in number. For example the file name contain different numbers at the end such as "MEDIUM_30_1.txt" or through "MEDIUM_1850_20.txt"

How can I specify a file type as well as containing a string?

How do you define a text file? By having it only contain a set of characters? In whichever case, you may find this useful - stackoverflow.com/a/13659891/3721256 — Paedolos
– Paedolos, Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 22:40
When you say "files containing a string", do you mean the file name contains the string, or the file contents? — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 23:02
SO is for programming questions, not questions about using or configuring Linux. SuperUser.com or unix.stackexchange.com would be better places for questions like this. — Barmar
– Barmar, Commented Nov 22, 2017 at 23:03

wilsotc · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-23 01:48:51Z

1

find . -type f | grep MEDIUM | grep '\.txt$' | xargs -I{} mv {} MEDIUM_files

answered Nov 23, 2017 at 1:48

wilsotc

8105 silver badges10 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How to search for text files containing a text string on a linux system

1 Answer 1

Comments

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Linked

Related