6.0;fpatb (find_pattern_block), revision 6.0, 83/04/15
FPATB (FIND_PATTERN_BLOCK) -- Locate blocks of lines containing text patterns.
usage:  FPATB [-A|-X|-C] [-L n] [-LF] [-B reg_expr1 [-E reg_expr2]]
                                        [-OUT pathname] [pathname... -P]
                                        reg_expr...


FORMAT

  FPATB [options] [pathname... -P] reg_expr ...


  FPATB  reads blocks of text from its input files and writes them to its output
  file(s) so they meet the specified matching criteria.  By default,  blocks  of
  lines  are  separated  by  an  empty line or by a line containing only blanks.
  FPATB is similar to FPAT (FIND_PATTERN) except that if a pattern is found, the
  entire block of lines is copied to output, rather than only the line in  which
  the  pattern  occurs.    Thus,  it  is  useful  for  searching  mailing lists,
  bibliographies, and similar files, where several lines are grouped together to
  form cohesive units.


ARGUMENTS

  reg_expr
  (required)         Specify regular expression to be used for matching  search.
                     Each expression defines a text pattern, and you can specify
                     up  to  nine expressions with each FPATB command.  FPATB is
                     case-sensitive; for example, "a"  is  different  from  "A".
                     For  a  description of regular expressions used for pattern
                     matching, type HELP PATTERNS.

  pathname -P
  (optional)         Specify name of file to be searched.    If  you  specify  a
                     pathname  with  this argument, you must follow it with "-P"
                     to separate the pathname(s) from the search patterns on the
                     command line.    Multiple  pathnames  and  wildcarding  are
                     permitted.

                     Default if omitted:  read standard input


OPTIONS

  If  no options are specified, any block containing a line that matches any one
  of the regular expressions is considered a matching block.

  -OUT pathname
                     Write output to specified file.  If input file  names  were
                     specified,  output filename can be derived.  If this option
                     is not specified, matching lines are  written  to  standard
                     output.

  -A                  Select only blocks containing lines that match ALL regular
                     expressions, in any order.

  -X                  Select  only  blocks  containing  NONE  of   the   regular
                     expressions.

  -C                  Write  only  a  count  of  matching  lines,  not the lines
                     themselves.

  -B reg_expr1       Specify 'reg_expr1' as the block separator,  instead  of  a
                     blank or empty line.  Text blocks begin at lines containing
                     reg_expr1.  If  -B  is  specified  and -E is not, reg_expr1
                     begins and ends the block.

  -E reg_expr2       Specify 'reg_expr1' to start a block and 'reg_expr2' to end
                     a block.    Note  that  the  -E  option  is  used  only  in
                     conjuction with the -B option.

  -L n                Write  only  the  first  n lines of selected blocks.  If a
                     block contains fewer than n lines,  this  option  pads  the
                     output block with blank lines.

  -LF                 Display  the  name  of  the  file  being  examined  before
                     searching its lines.




EXAMPLES

  $ fpatb address_list -p 01824 -out zip_list   Locate text blocks containing
  $                                             the string "01824" in the file
                                                "address_list" and write the
                                                results to "zip_list".


RELATED TOPICS

  More information is available.  Type:

  - HELP FPAT
    for details about searching files for single lines containing text patterns.

  - HELP PATTERNS
    for a description of regular expressions.