How to search files by content in Mac / Linux

My nightmare come when i want to search files by content in Mac!. Last time i used to search files by content using Dreamweaver (Window) and it’s a no brainer. Today, i manage to find myself the Mac / Linux command that able to search files by content and now it solve my many years problem :p

To search files by content in Mac / Linux, follow the steps below:-

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Go to your terminal
Using the sample below, you may change the criteria according to your needs:-

find ./ -name "*.php" -print | xargs grep "split("

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find ./ -name "*.php" -print | xargs grep "split("

*** the example above will search all the .php file for the content of split( under the current directory. And below is the example of result of the search:-

# this is the result of the search ./model/Users.class.php: $result = split(":", $data);

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# this is the result of the search
./model/Users.class.php: $result = split(":", $data);
To make the command easier to understand, copy the command below and replace #path#, #file_extension# and #content_you_want_to_find# to your search criteria

find #path# -name "*.#file_extension#" -print | xargs grep "#content_you_want_to_find#"

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find #path# -name "*.#file_extension#" -print | xargs grep "#content_you_want_to_find#"