---
name: "cif-grep"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "cif-tools"
version: "1.0.12-4"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/cif-grep"
---

# cif-grep(1)

A tool like grep to print fields in mmCIF files that match patterns

## NAME

cif-grep - A tool like grep to print fields in mmCIF files that match patterns

## SYNOPSIS

cif-grep \[OPTION\] pattern file1 \[file2..\]

## DESCRIPTION

This tool tries to work in a similar way as *grep* by searching mmCIF files comparing the content of fields to patterns.

## OPTIONS

Multiple files can be specified to search. If a directory name if specified, all files in that directory will be searched. Use the *--recursive* flag to do a recursive search.

- **--item**=\<item\>, **-i** \<item\>

  Limit the search to only the item specified in *\<item\>*. Default is to search all items. Item should be of the form **'\_category.item'** with the leading underscore.

- **--quiet**, **-q**

  Print only the file names that match the pattern.

- **--count**, **-c**

  Only show the number of hits.

- **--invert-match**, **-v**

  Only select the fields that do **not** match the pattern.

- **--line-number**, **-n**

  Print the line numbers.

- **--no-filename**, **-h**

  Do not print the filename.

- **--with-filename**, **-H**

  Do print the filename.

- **--files-with-matches**, **-l**

  Print only the names of the files containing matches.

- **--recursive**, **-r**

  Search recursively.

- **--verbose**,**-V**

  Be more verbose, useful to diagnose validation errors.

## AUTHOR

Written by Maarten L. Hekkelman \<maarten@hekkelman.com\>

## REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs at https://github.com/PDB-REDO/cif-tools/issues

## SEE ALSO

**cif-diff**, **cif-merge**, **cif-validate**,  **cif2pdb**, **mmCQL**, **pdb2cif**.