help grep
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title

     search within your datasets for keywords

Syntax

        grep search strings or "search phrase", [path(directory_name)]
                 [filter(dta file secification)]


Description
    grep emulates the unix/linux command by the same name and will of course
    run on all operating systems.  You can use it to parse any list of dta
    file and find ones with variables whose variable name or variable labels
    contain strings that interest you.  It display the results in smcl format
    and they are clickable so you can directly describe or usethe results.
    Furthermore it returns everything including datasets and variables found
    so you can program on top of it.

    It is useful when you have produced plenty of files within a project and
    you are not quite sure where everything is. It is also useful in case
    master datasets contain large number of files e.g. SOEP.

    If you want to find all datasets in the mydir whose name starts with "a"
    and whose variable names or labels contain "household" then you run grep
    household, path(mydir) filter(a*). If you found a_1.dta,...,a_n.dta with
    variables ajv1,....ajvm_j then r(no) = n, r(djno) = m_j, r(dj)=a_j.dta
    r(djvs)=ajvs.

    If you want to find all datasets whose variable names or labels contain
    the phrase "Trunk Space" in the Stata install directory then you run grep
    "Trunk Space", path(`"`c(sysdir_stata)'"') filter(*) whereas if you want
    to find all variables within file.dta in the current directory whose
    variable names or labels contain the Words "Trunk" or "Space" then you
    run grep Trunk Space, path(.) filter(file.dta)



Examples
The command below
    . grep turn, path(`"`c(sysdir_stata)'"') filter(auto.dta)
will find 
    "dataset: use,describe.  variables: use,describe: 2 vars in auto.dta",
while it returns macros

    r(d1v1) : "turn"
    r(d1no) : "1"
    r(d1) : "auto.dta"
    r(no) : "1"

The above can be achieved by:

    cd `"`c(sysdir_stata)'"'
    grep turn, filter(auto.dta)
or 
    cd `"`c(sysdir_stata)'"'
    grep turn, filter(a*.dta)
or 
    cd `"`c(sysdir_stata)'"'
    grep turn


since in the absence of a (path,filter) specification the (current directory,*)
>  will be assumed.



Note 
Useful suggestions by Dan Blanchette (dan.blanchette@duke.edu) are gratefully a
> cknowledged.


 Author
Nikos Askitas, IZA, Bonn, Germany.
Email: nikos@iza.org