ok I just read the man pages for grep.. I am no further ahead than when I started.. could someone please explain in simple terms what it's use is and maybe a few examples of where you would use it... thanks in advance

ps I remember I copied a command from this form with grep in it to find files.. but I can't seem to locate it anymore.. like to search /etc for *.new files.. so I could update config files etc..

you try this...
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/Bash-Beginne...ect_04_02.html

thanks... that guide helped but I still can't figure out how to find files.. from what I read grep only finds words or 'expressions' within a file.. I am thinking I need to look into the find command more..

but I bookmarked that site and learned a lot.. thank you again.. I am about to google to see if there is something similiar for the find command..

Let me give you the single most useful structure for "find":
This command says find, starting at the root directory, a file named bash. Try it. It should at least find /bin/bash

I use some variant on this all the time to find files that aren't on my path.

Another, similar command, that I truly adore is "which":
This'll do the same thing, but it'll only work on files that are in your path, so you can find executables that are on your path quickly.

ok this is how i search files, for example mynotes.txt

code :

find / -name *notes*

find = find cmd
/ = start search from root. if you want to serch within your home dir then find /home/xxx/ -name *notes*
*notes* = search any file name contains "notes"


now for the grep things..for example in /etc you to list out lilo.conf
code :

ls -l /etc | grep lilo

ls- l = you know right
/etc = path
| = this is called pipe means the output of ls -l /etc/ is directed to grep
grep = filter out expression given (in this case is lilo) from ls -l /etc

Thank you.. I have tried your examples... but could you explain to me what you mean by "on my path" .. I have seen this expression used before but was unclear as to it's meaning..

edit:
I have been playing around with the examples you guys have given me.. I think I have it worked out.. just one to clarify something

ls -l /etc | grep lilo and find /etc -name '*lilo*' should give you the same results

or

ls -l /home/x/* | grep burning is the same as find /home/x/ -name '*burning*'

is there one that is more appropriate? I am thinking that using find is better when there are subdirectories and ls is good if you know the directory?

$PATH is an environment variable ... it contains a colon-
separated list of directories in which the shell will look
for executables. Some things may not be "in your path",
e.g. if you're logged in as a normal user you won't have
iptables in your path ...


Cheers,
Tink

you can add things to you path in the ~/.bashrc file, among other places

when you're done with those, another command to check out is "locate"