[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>> ps aux | grep [l]pr >>> >>> This still lists all the processes that contain the string "lpr", >>> but it will not match the grep process itself anymore. >> >> Why is that? Isn't a bracket expression containing only one >> character exactly the same as the character by itself? Am I missing >> something blindingly obvious? :) > > As you point out, the brackets with one character amount to a range > of one character. The "[l]pr" regexp is intrepreted as "lpr", but > the grep command show up in ps as "grep [l]pr". This prevents grep > from matching its own process as it is output by ps.
</me slaps forehead> Thanks, guess I didn't think hard enough. :) Nice trick, BTW... -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
