tags 30686 + notabug thanks Peng Yu wrote: > I am looking for a feature similar to -A -B -C but not based on lines, > but based on characters or even words. Is it possible with the current > version of grep? > > In the following example, I'd like to show the matched region as well > as 3 characters before and after it. But the 3 characters before and > after the match is also showed. > > grep --color -o -P '.{0,3}a.{0,3}' <<< > '+++++++++++++++++a++++++++++++++++++++'
Those three characters before and after as you say are also part of the pattern and are also part of the match. If you want to then only color a subset in a second grep you can always do that. grep -o -P '.{0,3}a.{0,3}' <<< '+++++++++++++++++a++++++++++++++++++++' | grep --color 'a' +++a+++ ^ only the 'a' is highlighted Bob