How to save the output of ack to a file?

Question

I'm trying to redirect the output of ack-grep to a file using the following command:

ack-grep "some_regex" > file

This command leads to an infinite loop (I guess), and the file keeps growing until the system runs out of disk space.

Here's the output of ack-grep --version:

ack-grep 2.12                              
Running under Perl 5.18.2 at /usr/bin/perl

Is there an alternative to using redirection?

these might help: http://beyondgrep.com/documentation/ack-1.96-man.html and http://beyondgrep.com/documentation/ — Jay T., Mar 04 '16 at 14:04
This issue is reported on GitHub: https://github.com/petdance/ack2/issues/481 — Fábio Perez, Mar 04 '16 at 14:29
As a workaround, don't put the file in the current directory: `ack-grep regex > ../file` — glenn jackman, Mar 04 '16 at 14:37
I don't think there is a right answer to this, as it is a known bug. @glennjackman, if you want to make your comment an answer, feel free. — Fábio Perez, Mar 17 '16 at 13:07

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 24 '17 at 19:58

2

Simply save the output elsewhere ack-grep "some_regex" > ../file

answered Jan 24 '17 at 19:58

Vinnie James

1 Answers1