! -iname "*.xls" \
! -iname "*.xlsx" \
! -iname "*.zip" \) \
- -exec echo "\"{}\"" ';' | xargs grep -li -- "$seek" | grep -v "^\.[^\/]\|\/\."
+ -exec echo "\"{}\"" ';' | xargs grep -li --binary-files=without-match -- "$seek" | grep -v "^\.[^\/]\|\/\."
+
+# first grep looks in every valid file for the pattern requested.
+# second grep strains out dot files.
+#hmmm: why are we doing that second step?
+