Using a text file with string to search for files containing that string in Linux

Question

To search in Linux for a file that contains a string, one would usually use:

grep "search string" *

But what if you instead want to pass a file (such as mySearchString.txt, which obviously would contain the string "search string" - without the double quotes... unless they or single quotes are required?) to grep for it to use to search for that string?

grep <mySearchString.txt *

Doesn't seem to work...

Possible duplicate of How to make "grep" read patterns from a file? — Benjamin W.
– Benjamin W., Commented Jan 22, 2017 at 18:32

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-20 09:12:55Z

1

man grep:

-f file
--file=file

Obtain patterns from file, one per line. If this option is used multiple times or is combined with the -e (--regexp) option, search for all patterns given. The empty file contains zero patterns, and therefore matches nothing. (-f is specified by POSIX.)

edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12

CommunityBot

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answered Jan 22, 2017 at 11:29

melpomene

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