Specify ignore custom file patterns in .ackrc

Question

I have certain CSS files of fileName *-c.css and *-gen.css which I want to ignore from ack-grep searches.

I see that --type-set=TYPENAME=.extension does not accept regex filters like *-c.css, any idea of how to get around this problem ?

score 44 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 18 '13 at 20:44

44

I came across ack-grep 2.0 which provides --ignore-file option based on regex pattern as below and it worked after adding it to ~/.ackrc.

--ignore-file=match:-c.js
--ignore-file=match:-gen.js
--ignore-file=match:-c.css
--ignore-file=match:-gen.css

answered Oct 18 '13 at 20:44

17

for exact file names: `--ignore-file=is:` - for ctags file: `--ignore-file=is:tags` – mMontu Oct 24 '13 at 12:18
Filters for different uses can be found on http://beyondgrep.com/documentation/ack-2.10-man.html#defining_your_own_types – mMontu Oct 24 '13 at 12:24
5

For all the too-fast readers finding this: Note that the '-' in the match string above is not saying "remove c.js files" - the '-' is part of the file name in the original question! – Ross R Jan 23 '17 at 14:16

Birei · Answer 2 · 2013-10-17T11:41:53.903

1

Use a regular expression to filter those files you want to search.

ack -G '(?<!-c)(?<!-gen)\.css$' expression_to_search

It uses the perl flavour. I do a negative look-behind to skip those that contain -c or -gen just before the extension.

edited Oct 17 '13 at 11:41

answered Oct 17 '13 at 11:17

Birei

For those reading this in 2019 or beyond, ack 3.x doesn't support the `-G` option. You have to use `ack -g pattern | ack -x expression_to_search`. – Andy Lester Sep 04 '19 at 04:35

2 Answers2