this command works, but wondering if there's a more concise, terse way to do it. Eg, fewer pipes, fewer commands, fewer switches, etc. Mainly, fewer characters.
get-childitem * -recurse | select-string "some string" | select -expandproperty Path | select -uniq
thx!
You don't need to do the select unique. select-string's -List parameter will make sure you only get one match per file.
(ls * -r|sls 'foo' -lis).path
Or, modified per comments below:
(ls -r|sls 'foo' -lis).path
(ls -r|sls 'foo' -list).path 28 chars, 3 shifts.
sls -li, you get this error: Select-String : Parameter cannot be processed because the parameter name 'li' is ambiguous. Possible matches include: -LiteralPath -List. So sls -lis is as short as the select-string -list command can possibly be.You could start with some of the built in aliases:
ls -r | sls 'some string' | % path | select -u
Detail:
ls -> Get-ChildItem
-r -> -Recurse
sls -> Select-String
% -> ForEach-Object
select -> Select-Object
-u -> -Unique
You can specify a path, with wildcards, to Select-String, so this can be pretty short.
(Select-String 'pattern' *.*).Path | Select -Unique
If you use the alias sls for Select-String it gets even shorter.
(sls 'pattern' *.*).Path | Select -Unique
Edit: As pointed out, the above does not do recursive searching. To accomplish that you'd have to do something very similar to what @RachelDuncan suggested.
ls * -r | sls 'pattern' | Select -Exp Path -U
* in lscomparing the two answers given so far, i started with @TheMadTechnician's because it uses fewer pipes-- typing a pipe on a US keyboard requires pressing the SHIFT key, so fewer pipes = fewer SHIFTs = fewer keystrokes.
Then i removed the * from the ls command, that's unnecessary.
Like @Rachel Duncan's answer, i converted all commands and switches to lowercase, they don't need to be uppercase-- that eliminates more SHIFT presses.
And i removed all spaces surrounding the pipes, they are unnecessary
@Rachel Duncan: 46 chars, 3 SHIFTS
ls -r | sls 'some string' | % path | select -u
@The Mad Technician: 45 chars, 6 SHIFTS
ls * -r | sls 'pattern' | Select -Exp Path -U
@Johny Why: 40 chars, 2 SHIFTS
ls -r|sls 'textarea'|select -exp path -u
Still, this seems like it should be easier yet. Before i mark Solved, can anyone offer a yet terser method?
Perhaps using Windows command-line, instead of powershell? (tho', i guess technically that would not answer the question, because i specified using powershell. Maybe stack would allow a command-line solution in the comments? :)
here's the best answer, so far:
(ls -r|sls 'foo' -list).path
i removed *, and added the missing t on -list.
28 chars, 3 shifts