C++ running grep in execv searches for executable path

Question

argv = {'/usr/bin/grep', '/usr/bin/grep', '-ri', 'test', '.', 0}    

pid_t pid = fork();
if (pid == 0) {

execv(argv[0], argv);

exit(0);
}
else {
  wait(NULL);
}

This is what I have for my code. I am simply trying to get the grep command to run. The problem I run into is that it thinks the second /usr/bin/grep is the search pattern.

I have tried to change the argv array to only contain one /usr/bin/grep, but that errors out and does not run the grep. Any help?

Answer 1

execv takes the command as the first parameter so you want "usr/bin/grep" not argv[0] which is the program you are running. Also remove the first parameter from argv.

I would also check that grep is in /usr/bin it's often in /bin.