---
name: "xml_grep"
section: "1p"
platform: "linux"
package: "perl-xml-twig"
version: "3.55-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/xml_grep"
---

# xml\_grep(1p)

grep XML files looking for specific elements

## NAME

xml\_grep - grep XML files looking for specific elements

## SYNOPSYS

```
  xml_grep [options] <file list>
```

or

```
  xml_grep <xpath expression> <file list>
```

By default you can just give `"xml_grep"` an XPath expression and a list of files, and get an XML file with the result.

This is equivalent to writing

```
  xml_grep --group_by_file file --pretty_print indented --cond <file list>
```

## OPTIONS

- **--help**

  brief help message

- **--man**

  full documentation

- **--Version**

  display the tool version

- **--root** \<cond\>

  look for and return xml chunks matching \<cond\>

  if neither `"--root"` nor `"--file"` are used then the element(s) that trigger the `"--cond"` option is (are) used. If `"--cond"` is not used then all elements matching the \<cond\> are returned

  several `"--root"` can be provided

- **--cond** \<cond\>

  return the chunks (or file names) only if they contain elements matching \<cond\>

  several `"--cond"` can be provided (in which case they are OR'ed)

- **--files**

  return only file names (do not generate an XML output)

  usage of this option precludes using any of the options that define the XML output: `"--roots"`, `"--encoding"`, `"--wrap"`, `"--group_by_file"` or `"--pretty_print"`

- **--count**

  return only the number of matches in each file

  usage of this option precludes using any of the options that define the XML output: `"--roots"`, `"--encoding"`, `"--wrap"`, `"--group_by_file"` or `"--pretty_print"`

- **--strict**

  without this option parsing errors are reported to STDOUT and the file skipped

- **--date**

  when on (by default) the wrapping element get a `"date"` attribute that gives the date the tool was run.

  with `"--nodate"` this attribute is not added, which can be useful if you need to compare 2 runs.

- **--encoding** \<enc\>

  encoding of the xml output (utf-8 by default)

- **--nb\_results** \<nb\>

  output only \<nb\> results

- **--by\_file**

  output only \<nb\> results by file

- **--wrap** \<tag\>

  wrap the xml result in the provided tag (defaults to 'xml\_grep')

  If wrap is set to an empty string (`"--wrap ''"`) then the xml result is not wrapped at all.

- **--nowrap**

  same as using `"--wrap ''"`: the xml result is not wrapped.

- **--descr** \<string\>

  attributes of the wrap tag (defaults to `"version="<VERSION>" date="<date>""`)

- **--group\_by\_file** \<optional\_tag\>

  wrap results for each files into a separate element. By default that element  is named `"file"`. It has an attribute named `"filename"` that gives the name of the  file.

  the short version of this option is **-g**

- **--exclude** \<condition\>

  same as using `"-v"` in grep: the elements that match the condition are excluded from the result, the input file(s) is (are) otherwise unchanged

  the short form of this option is **-v**

- **--pretty\_print** \<optional\_style\>

  pretty print the output using XML::Twig styles ('`"indented"`', '`"record"`' or '`"record_c"`' are probably what you are looking for)

  if the option is used but no style is given then '`"indented"`' is used

  short form for this argument is **-s**

- **--text\_only**

  Displays the text of the results, one by line.

- **--html**

  Allow HTML input, files are converted using HTML::TreeBuilder

- **--Tidy**

  Allow HTML input, files are converted using HTML::Tidy

### Condition Syntax

\<cond\> is an XPath-like expression as allowed by XML::Twig to trigger handlers.

examples: \
   'para'\
   'para\[@compact="compact"\]'\
   '\*\[@urgent\]'\
   '\*\[@urgent="1"\]'\
   'para\[**string()**="WARNING"\]'

see XML::Twig for a more complete description of the \<cond\> syntax

options are processed by Getopt::Long so they can start with '-' or '--' and can be abbreviated (`"-r"` instead of `"--root"` for example)

## DESCRIPTION

**xml\_grep** does a grep on XML files. Instead of using regular  expressions it uses XPath expressions (in fact the subset of  XPath supported by XML::Twig)

the results can be the names of the files or XML elements  containing matching elements.

## SEE ALSO

XML::Twig Getopt::Long

## LICENSE

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

## AUTHOR

Michel Rodriguez \<mirod@xmltwig.com\>