Find String In Files With Grep

How to find all instances of a given string in multiple files with grep.

Basic Usage

This example uses the Drupal Zen theme's STARTERKIT directory.

grep "background-color" css/*.css

Returns something like:

css/block-editing.css:  background-color: #fff;
css/comments.css:  /* background-color: #fff4f4; */
css/comments.css:  /* background-color: #ffffea; */
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ff6;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ffd;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #fff4f4;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ffffea;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #fff4f4;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ffffea;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ddd;
css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #000;
[... and so on...]

Recursive Usage

grep -r "background-color: #ff6;" themes

Returns something like:

themes/subtheme/css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ff6;
themes/zen/STARTERKIT/css/drupal6-reference.css:  background-color: #ff6;