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xargs - build and execute command lines from standard input
xargs
[-0hprtvx] [-e[eof-str]] [-i[replace-str]] [-l[max-lines]] [-n max-args] [-s max-chars]
[--null] [--eof[=eof-str]] [--replace[=replace-str]] [--max-lines[=max-lines]]
[--max-chars=max-chars] [--verbose] [--exit] [--query] [--max-args=max-args]
[--no-run-if-empty] [--version] [--help] [command [initial-arguments]]
This manual page documents the Ron Charlton-revised GNU version of
xargs (revised for use on Windows).
xargs
reads arguments from the standard input, delimited by blanks (which can
be protected with double quotes) or newlines, and executes
the command (default is /bin/echo) one or more times with any initial-arguments
followed by arguments read from standard input. Blank lines on the standard
input are ignored.
xargs exits with the following status:
0 if it succeeds
123 if any invocation of the command exited with status 1-125
124 if the command exited with status 255
125 if the command is killed by a signal [not implemented]
126 if the command cannot be run
127 if the command is not found
1 if some other error occurred.
- -0, --null
- Input filenames are terminated by a null character instead
of by whitespace, and the quotes and backslash are not special (every character
is taken literally). Disables the end of file string, which is treated
like any other argument. Useful when arguments might contain white space,
quote marks, or backslashes. The GNU find -print0 option produces input
suitable for this mode.
- -e[eof-str], --eof[=eof-str]
- Set the end of file string
to eof-str. If the end of file string occurs as a line of input, the rest
of the input is ignored. If eof-str is omitted, there is no end of file string.
If this option is not given, the end of file string defaults to none.
- -h, --help
- Print a summary of the options to xargs and exit.
- -i[replace-str], --replace[=replace-str]
- Replace occurences of replace-str in the initial arguments
with names read from standard input. Also, unquoted blanks do not terminate
arguments. If replace-str is omitted, it defaults to "{}" (like for ‘find
-exec’). Implies -x and -l 1.
- -l[max-lines], --max-lines[=max-lines]
- Use at most max-lines
nonblank input lines per command line; max-lines defaults to 1 if omitted.
Trailing blanks cause an input line to be logically continued on the next
input line. Implies -x.
- -n max-args, --max-args=max-args
- Use at most max-args arguments
per command line. Fewer than max-args arguments will be used if the size
(see the -s option) is exceeded, unless the -x option is given, in which
case xargs will exit.
- -r, --no-run-if-empty
- If the standard input does not contain
any nonblanks, do not run the command. Normally, the command is run once
even if there is no input.
- -s max-chars, --max-chars=max-chars
- Use at most max-chars
characters per command line, including the command and initial arguments
and the terminating nulls at the ends of the argument strings. The default
is as large as possible, up to 20k characters.
- -t, --verbose
- Print the command
line on the standard error output before executing it.
- -v, --version
- Print the version number and copyright of xargs and exit.
- -x, --exit
- Exit if the size (see the -s option) is exceeded.
- -p, --query
- Print each command line to standard error and ask whether to
execute the command, skip the command or quit. Option -n can be useful
with option -p.
find(1L)
, locate(1L)
, locatedb(5L)
,
updatedb(1)
Finding Files (on-line in Info, or printed)
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