Searching for an existing fact with Search and variants

Syntax#

Search qualid. (* for Coq 8.4 and newer versions *)
SearchAbout qualid. (* deprecated synonym. *)

Parameters#

Parameter	Description
`qualid`	The identifier or pattern to search for. It can involve notations
## Remarks#
Before Coq 8.4, `Search` had the meaning of the current `SearchHead`: only search for facts where the pattern matches in the conclusion of the statement.
## Facts about a particular identifier
To see all the facts involving the `le` relation from the prelude:

Coq < Search le.
le_n: forall n : nat, n <= n
le_S: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> n <= S m
...
max_l: forall n m : nat, m <= n -> Nat.max n m = n
max_r: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> Nat.max n m = m
...

To search about all the facts involving the notation <:

Coq < Search "<".
exists_lt: forall (Q : nat -> Prop) (k l : nat), exists_between Q k l -> k < l
in_int_intro: forall p q r : nat, p <= r -> r < q -> in_int p q r
in_int_lt: forall p q r : nat, in_int p q r -> p < q
...

Searching for a pattern

Search for all facts involving a pattern in an hypothesis or conclusion:

Coq < Search (_ + O).
plus_n_O: forall n : nat, n = n + 0

The _ character serves as a wildcard, it can be used multiple times:

Coq < Search (S _ <= _).
le_S_n: forall n m : nat, S n <= S m -> n <= m
le_n_S: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> S n <= S m

You can also search for non-linear patterns:

Coq < Search (?x <= ?x).
le_n: forall n : nat, n <= n

Searching for a pattern in the conclusion of a lemma

Search for a lemma when you know what its conclusion ought to be:

Coq < SearchPattern (S _ <= _).
le_n_S: forall n m : nat, n <= m -> S n <= S m

You can also search on a partial conclusion (the conclusion and one or several last hypotheses).

Coq < Require Import Arith.
Coq < SearchPattern (?x <= ?y -> ?y <= _ -> ?x <= _).
Nat.le_trans: forall n m p : nat, n <= m -> m <= p -> n <= p

Warning: if you mix up the order of the hypotheses, you won’t find anything:

Coq < SearchPattern (?y <= _ -> ?x <= ?y -> ?x <= _).