How to do 'search for keyword in files' in emacs in Windows without cygwin?
- by Anthony Kong
I want to search for keyword, says 'action', in a bunch of files in my Windows PC with Emacs.
It is partly because I want to learn more advanced features of emacs. It is also because the Windows PC is locked down by company policy. I cannot install useful applications like cygwin at will.
So I tried this command: M-x rgrep
It throws the following error message:
*- mode: grep; default-directory: "c:/Users/me/Desktop/Project" -*-
Grep started at Wed Oct 16 18:37:43
find . -type d "(" -path "*/SCCS" -o -path "*/RCS" -o -path "*/CVS" -o -path "*/MCVS" -o -path "*/.svn" -o -path "*/.git" -o -path "*/.hg" -o -path "*/.bzr" -o -path "*/_MTN" -o -path "*/_darcs" -o -path "*/{arch}" ")" -prune -o "(" -name ".#*" -o -name "*.o" -o -name "*~" -o -name "*.bin" -o -name "*.bak" -o -name "*.obj" -o -name "*.map" -o -name "*.ico" -o -name "*.pif" -o -name "*.lnk" -o -name "*.a" -o -name "*.ln" -o -name "*.blg" -o -name "*.bbl" -o -name "*.dll" -o -name "*.drv" -o -name "*.vxd" -o -name "*.386" -o -name "*.elc" -o -name "*.lof" -o -name "*.glo" -o -name "*.idx" -o -name "*.lot" -o -name "*.fmt" -o -name "*.tfm" -o -name "*.class" -o -name "*.fas" -o -name "*.lib" -o -name "*.mem" -o -name "*.x86f" -o -name "*.sparcf" -o -name "*.dfsl" -o -name "*.pfsl" -o -name "*.d64fsl" -o -name "*.p64fsl" -o -name "*.lx64fsl" -o -name "*.lx32fsl" -o -name "*.dx64fsl" -o -name "*.dx32fsl" -o -name "*.fx64fsl" -o -name "*.fx32fsl" -o -name "*.sx64fsl" -o -name "*.sx32fsl" -o -name "*.wx64fsl" -o -name "*.wx32fsl" -o -name "*.fasl" -o -name "*.ufsl" -o -name "*.fsl" -o -name "*.dxl" -o -name "*.lo" -o -name "*.la" -o -name "*.gmo" -o -name "*.mo" -o -name "*.toc" -o -name "*.aux" -o -name "*.cp" -o -name "*.fn" -o -name "*.ky" -o -name "*.pg" -o -name "*.tp" -o -name "*.vr" -o -name "*.cps" -o -name "*.fns" -o -name "*.kys" -o -name "*.pgs" -o -name "*.tps" -o -name "*.vrs" -o -name "*.pyc" -o -name "*.pyo" ")" -prune -o -type f "(" -iname "*.sh" ")" -exec grep -i -n "action" {} NUL ";"
FIND: Parameter format not correct
Grep exited abnormally with code 2 at Wed Oct 16 18:37:44
I believe rgrep tried to spwan a process and called 'FIND' with all the parameters. However, since it is a Windows, the default Find executable simply does not know how to handle.
What is the better way to search for a keyword in multiple files in Emacs on Windows platform, without any dependency on external programs?
Emacs version: 24.2.1
