How to match multiple line patterns in Unix

Question

Suppose I have a txt file that looks like the following:

pattern 1 
pattern 2
pattern 3
some information
pattern 1
pattern 2
pattern 3
some other information
.....

Is there a way to match pattern 1, pattern 2, and pattern 3 (which are in different lines) at the same time? The file contains other stuff. It has stuff at the beginning and the end that I don't want. I just want to extract the part of the file described as above.

Your question is unclear. Are you looking to match to find out if the lines are present, or extract the 'some information' that follows the three line pattern. The answer is yes it is possible, but the method will differ depending upon what you are looking to achieve. — caskey
– caskey, Commented Oct 1, 2013 at 23:25
The file contains other stuff. It has stuff at the beginning and the end that I don't want. I just want to extract the part of the file described as above. Sorry for being unclear. — Smith Black
– Smith Black, Commented Oct 1, 2013 at 23:28

jkshah · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-01 23:45:43Z

1

consider using | to match multiple patterns at the same time

/pattern1|pattern2|pattern3/

answered Oct 1, 2013 at 23:45

jkshah

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iamauser · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-01 23:57:51Z

0

You can egrep with () for grouping pattern and the numbers.

egrep "(pattern 1|pattern 2|pattern 3)" file

pattern 1 
pattern 2
pattern 3
pattern 1
pattern 2
pattern 3

answered Oct 1, 2013 at 23:57

iamauser

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Comments

caskey · Accepted Answer · 2013-10-01 23:49:33Z

0

grep 'pattern 1\|pattern 2\|pattern 3' /your/file.txt

You need to escape the vertical-bar between patterns but that will print any line which matches any of those three patterns.

If you only want to match if those three patterns occur in that particular order on different lines, you have a slightly different (and more complicated) problem.

answered Oct 1, 2013 at 23:49

caskey

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