need a linux command
 

i have a big log file in a directory.

in this log file , there is line which contains keyword "XML MESSAGE".

i want to print -5 lines above and +5 lines below (including that line also) to that line.

whats the linux command for this ?

i guess you meant

cat your_log_file | grep "XML MESSAGE" -A 5 -B 5 .

please note "XML MESSAGE" is a keyword , a fixed string

Good the avallach solution! Just a note: you have to double quote the "XML MESSAGE" or escape the blank space:

not working !

i got the following error msg :

grep: can't open -A
grep: can't open 5
grep: can't open -B
grep: can't open 5



i used this ..

vi mylogfile.log | grep "Xml To Publish : " -A 5 -B 5

whats wrong here ?

let me know whether i have done any mistake ...why its not working ?

It works for me, using grep-2.5.1-52.2 on FC5.

You cannot pipe the output of vi command, because vi is an interactive editor. Use cat instead, as in the examples above.

You need to use cat, not vi, to display the contents of the file. This:needs to be

still not working .

see below..

server_dir> cat mylogfile.log | grep "Xml To Publish : " -A 5 -B 5
grep: can't open -A
grep: can't open 5
grep: can't open -B
grep: can't open 5

is this command working in your machine ?

do you have any other alternative which could solve the same purpose ?

It works quite well! Which version of grep do you have?

whats the command to check that ?

please tell me the command ..i'll check and post it .

can you tell any other alternative which could solve my problem ?

grep -V
or
grep --version

Not a one-line command! I have to think for a while, however...

i found

grep -V
grep: illegal option -- V
Usage: grep -hblcnsviw pattern file . . .


i believe this is a unix system ...because tail command works fine in this system.....i work via telnet only....do you think ,..its a unix box ?

if so whats the equivalent command in unix which could solve my purpose ?