bzfgrep

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr bzgrep

bzfgrep [fgrep-options] [-e] pattern [file ...]

-a, --text
    Process binary files as text

-A NUM, --after-context=NUM
    Print NUM lines of trailing context after each match

-b, --byte-offset
    Print byte offset of each match

-B NUM, --before-context=NUM
    Print NUM lines of leading context before each match

-c, --count
    Suppress normal output; show only count of matching lines

-C NUM, --context=NUM
    Print NUM lines of context around each match

-d ACTION, --devices=ACTION
    Handle devices/symbolic links (read|recurse|skip)

-e PATTERN, --regexp=PATTERN
    Use PATTERN as fixed string (escape sequences)

-f FILE, --file=FILE
    Read fixed patterns from FILE, one per line

-F, --fixed-strings
    Equivalent (always fixed-string mode)

-h, --no-filename
    Suppress filename prefix on output

-i, --ignore-case
    Ignore case distinctions

-l, --files-with-matches
    List only filenames with matches

-L, --files-without-matches
    List only filenames without matches

-n, --line-number
    Prefix matches with line numbers

-q, --quiet, --silent
    Suppress all output (exit status only)

-r, --recursive
    Recurse into directories

-s, --no-messages
    Suppress error messages

-v, --invert-match
    Select non-matching lines

-w, --word-regexp
    Match only whole words

-x, --line-regexp
    Match only whole lines

--color[=WHEN]
    Highlight matches (auto|never|always)

--line-buffered
    Flush output after each line

bzfgrep is a wrapper utility from the bzip2 package that enables searching for literal (fixed) strings in files compressed with bzip2, without manual decompression. It streams decompression via bzip2 -dc and pipes the output to fgrep (fast grep for fixed strings), treating patterns as exact matches rather than regex. This is efficient for large .bz2 archives, logs, or text dumps.

Key benefits include on-the-fly processing to save disk space/time, support for multiple files (processes each separately), and stdin reading. If a file lacks bzip2 magic bytes, it skips decompression and runs plain fgrep. Patterns can be specified directly or via -e/-f. Output mimics fgrep: matching lines with filename:line:content format for multiple files.

Ideal for sysadmins searching compressed backups or application logs. Performance note: Decompression adds CPU overhead, but streaming avoids full uncompression. Equivalent to bzgrep -F.

Decompression CPU overhead on large files; streaming but memory-intensive for very big inputs. Only detects bzip2 magic (handles .bz2, stdin); uncompressed files use plain fgrep. Not parallelized; errors on corrupt bz2 files. Deprecated in favor of grep --compress=bz2 in GNU grep 3.34+.

Reads compressed data from stdin if no files given: bzfgrep 'pattern' < file.bz2

Prefix: file.bz2:42:matching line; use -h to omit filename

bzfgrep == bzgrep -F; prefer grep -F -z --compress-program=bzip2 on modern systems

Developed by Julian Seward as part of bzip2 (initial release 0.9 1997, 1.0 2000). grep wrappers like bzfgrep added early for convenience; still maintained in bzip2 1.0.8 (2019). Mirrors fgrep behavior for legacy fixed-string efficiency.

grep(1), fgrep(1), bzgrep(1), bzip2(1), zgrep(1)