grep limited characters - one line

Question

I want to look up a word in multiple files, and return only a single line per result, or a limited number of characters (40 ~ 80 characters for example), and not the entire line, as by default.

grep -sR 'wp-content' .  file_1.sql:3309:blog/wp-content  file_1.sql:3509:blog/wp-content  file_2.sql:309:blog/wp-content  

Currently I see the following:

grep -sR 'wp-content' .  file_1.sql:3309:blog/wp-content-Progressively predominate impactful systems without resource-leveling best practices. Uniquely maximize virtual channels and inexpensive results. Uniquely procrastinate multifunctional leadership skills without visionary systems. Continually redefine prospective deliverables without. file_1.sql:3509:blog/wp-content-Progressively predominate impactful systems without resource-leveling best practices. Uniquely maximize virtual channels and inexpensive results. Uniquely procrastinate multifunctional leadership skills without visionary systems. Continually redefine prospective deliverables without.  file_2.sql:309:blog/wp-content-Progressively predominate impactful systems without resource-leveling best practices. Uniquely maximize virtual channels and inexpensive results. Uniquely procrastinate multifunctional leadership skills without visionary systems. Continually redefine prospective deliverables without. 

Answer 1

You could use a combination of grep and cut

Using your example I would use:

grep -sRn 'wp-content' .|cut -c -40 grep -sRn 'wp-content' .|cut -c -80 

That would give you the first 40 or 80 characters respectively.

edit:

Also, theres a flag in grep, that you could use:

-m NUM, --max-count=NUM           Stop reading a file after NUM matching lines. 

This with a combination of what I previously wrote:

grep -sRnm 1 'wp-content' .|cut -c -40 grep -sRnm 1 'wp-content' .|cut -c -80 

That should give you the first time it appears per file, and only the first 40 or 80 chars.