1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1991, 1993
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.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
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.\"
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.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
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.\" John B. Roll Jr. and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
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.\" Engineers, Inc.
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.\"
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.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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.\" are met:
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.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
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.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
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.\" This product includes software developed by the University of
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.\" California, Berkeley and its contributors.
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.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
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.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
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.\" without specific prior written permission.
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.\"
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.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
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.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
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.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
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.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
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.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
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.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
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.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
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.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
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.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
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.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
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.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
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.\"
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.\" @(#)xargs.1 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
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1999-08-28 01:08:13 +00:00
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.\" $FreeBSD$
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2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.\" $xMach: xargs.1,v 1.2 2002/02/23 05:23:37 tim Exp $
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.\"
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2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
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.Dd May 7, 2001
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Dt XARGS 1
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.Os
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.Sh NAME
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.Nm xargs
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|
.Nd "construct argument list(s) and execute utility"
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.Sh SYNOPSIS
|
2000-11-20 19:21:22 +00:00
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.Nm
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2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.Op Fl 0pt
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.Op Fl E Ar eofstr
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2002-05-02 02:42:34 +00:00
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.Oo
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.Fl I Ar replstr
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.Op Fl R Ar replacements
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.Oc
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2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
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.Op Fl J Ar replstr
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2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.Op Fl L Ar number
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2000-12-27 16:52:31 +00:00
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.Oo
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Fl n Ar number
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2000-12-27 16:52:31 +00:00
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.Op Fl x
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Oc
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2002-12-21 10:17:13 +00:00
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.Op Fl P Ar maxjobs
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Op Fl s Ar size
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2000-12-27 16:52:31 +00:00
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.Op Ar utility Op Ar argument ...
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Sh DESCRIPTION
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The
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1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
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.Nm
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2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
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utility reads space, tab, newline and end-of-file delimited strings
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from the standard input and executes
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Ar utility
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
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with the strings as
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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arguments.
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.Pp
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
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Any arguments specified on the command line are given to
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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.Ar utility
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upon each invocation, followed by some number of the arguments read
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2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
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from the standard input of
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.Nm .
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The utility
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1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
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is repeatedly executed until standard input is exhausted.
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.Pp
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Spaces, tabs and newlines may be embedded in arguments using single
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(``\ '\ '')
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or double (``"'') quotes or backslashes (``\e'').
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Single quotes escape all non-single quote characters, excluding newlines,
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up to the matching single quote.
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Double quotes escape all non-double quote characters, excluding newlines,
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up to the matching double quote.
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Any single character, including newlines, may be escaped by a backslash.
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.Pp
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The options are as follows:
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.Bl -tag -width indent
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1996-11-01 18:46:05 +00:00
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.It Fl 0
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2000-03-26 15:05:40 +00:00
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Change
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1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
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.Nm
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1996-11-01 18:46:05 +00:00
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to expect NUL
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(``\\0'')
|
1997-12-13 06:34:47 +00:00
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characters as separators, instead of spaces and newlines.
|
1996-11-01 18:46:05 +00:00
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This is expected to be used in concert with the
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.Fl print0
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function in
|
2000-03-26 15:05:40 +00:00
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.Xr find 1 .
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.It Fl E Ar eofstr
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Use
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.Ar eofstr
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as a logical EOF marker.
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.It Fl I Ar replstr
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Execute
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.Ar utility
|
2002-12-27 12:15:40 +00:00
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for each input line, replacing one or more occurrences of
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.Ar replstr
|
2002-05-02 02:42:34 +00:00
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in up to
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.Ar replacements
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(or 5 if no
|
2002-05-14 22:55:31 +00:00
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.Fl R
|
2002-05-02 02:42:34 +00:00
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|
flag is specified) arguments to
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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.Ar utility
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with the entire line of input.
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
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|
The resulting arguments, after replacement is done, will not be allowed to grow
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|
beyond 255 bytes; this is implemented by concatenating as much of the argument
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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|
containing
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.Ar replstr
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
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|
as possible, to the constructed arguments to
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|
.Ar utility ,
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
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|
up to 255 bytes.
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|
The 255 byte limit does not apply to arguments to
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|
.Ar utility
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|
which do not contain
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|
.Ar replstr ,
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
|
|
|
and furthermore, no replacement will be done on
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
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|
itself.
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|
Implies
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|
.Fl x .
|
2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
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|
.It Fl J Ar replstr
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|
If this option is specified,
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.Nm
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|
will use the data read from standard input to replace the first occurrence of
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|
.Ar replstr
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|
instead of appending that data after all other arguments.
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|
This option will not effect how many arguments will be read from input
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|
.Pq Fl n ,
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|
or the size of the command(s)
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|
.Nm
|
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|
will generate
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|
.Pq Fl s .
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|
The option just moves where those arguments will be placed in the command(s)
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|
that are executed.
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|
The
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.Ar replstr
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|
must show up as a distinct
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.Ar argument
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to
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|
.Nm .
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|
It will not be recognized if, for instance, it is in the middle of a
|
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|
quoted string.
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|
Furthermore, only the first occurrence of the
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|
.Ar replstr
|
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|
will be replaced.
|
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|
For example, the following command will copy the list of files and
|
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|
directories which start with an uppercase letter in the current
|
|
|
|
directory to
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|
|
.Pa destdir :
|
|
|
|
.Pp
|
2002-06-22 12:47:56 +00:00
|
|
|
.Dl /bin/ls -1d [A-Z]* | xargs -J % cp -rp % destdir
|
2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
|
|
|
.Pp
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl L Ar number
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
|
|
|
Call
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
for every
|
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|
.Ar number
|
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|
|
lines read.
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
|
|
|
If EOF is reached and fewer lines have been read than
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ar number
|
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|
|
then
|
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|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
will be called with the available lines.
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl n Ar number
|
|
|
|
Set the maximum number of arguments taken from standard input for each
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
|
|
|
invocation of
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility .
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
An invocation of
|
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|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
will use less than
|
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|
.Ar number
|
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|
standard input arguments if the number of bytes accumulated (see the
|
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|
|
.Fl s
|
|
|
|
option) exceeds the specified
|
|
|
|
.Ar size
|
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|
|
or there are fewer than
|
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|
|
.Ar number
|
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|
|
arguments remaining for the last invocation of
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility .
|
|
|
|
The current default value for
|
|
|
|
.Ar number
|
|
|
|
is 5000.
|
2002-12-21 10:17:13 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl P Ar maxprocs
|
|
|
|
Parallel mode: run at most
|
|
|
|
.Ar maxprocs
|
|
|
|
invocations of
|
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|
|
.Ar utility
|
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|
|
at once.
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl p
|
|
|
|
Echo each command to be executed and ask the user whether it should be
|
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|
|
executed.
|
2002-05-05 06:42:44 +00:00
|
|
|
An affirmative response,
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ql y
|
2002-05-05 06:42:44 +00:00
|
|
|
in the POSIX locale,
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
causes the command to be executed, any other response causes it to be
|
|
|
|
skipped.
|
2002-05-05 06:42:44 +00:00
|
|
|
No commands are executed if the process is not attached to a terminal.
|
2002-05-02 02:42:34 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl R Ar replacements
|
2002-05-30 06:50:52 +00:00
|
|
|
Specify the maximum number of arguments that
|
2002-05-02 03:29:38 +00:00
|
|
|
.Fl I
|
2002-05-02 02:42:34 +00:00
|
|
|
will do replacement in.
|
2003-02-26 22:44:32 +00:00
|
|
|
If
|
|
|
|
.Ar replacements
|
|
|
|
is negative, the number of arguments in which to replace is unbounded.
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl s Ar size
|
|
|
|
Set the maximum number of bytes for the command line length provided to
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility .
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
The sum of the length of the utility name, the arguments passed to
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
(including
|
|
|
|
.Dv NULL
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
terminators) and the current environment will be less than or equal to
|
|
|
|
this number.
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
The current default value for
|
|
|
|
.Ar size
|
|
|
|
is
|
|
|
|
.Dv ARG_MAX
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
- 4096.
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.It Fl t
|
|
|
|
Echo the command to be executed to standard error immediately before it
|
|
|
|
is executed.
|
|
|
|
.It Fl x
|
|
|
|
Force
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
to terminate immediately if a command line containing
|
|
|
|
.Ar number
|
|
|
|
arguments will not fit in the specified (or default) command line length.
|
|
|
|
.El
|
|
|
|
.Pp
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
|
|
|
If
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
|
|
|
is omitted,
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.Xr echo 1
|
|
|
|
is used.
|
|
|
|
.Pp
|
|
|
|
Undefined behavior may occur if
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
reads from the standard input.
|
|
|
|
.Pp
|
|
|
|
The
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
utility exits immediately (without processing any further input) if a
|
|
|
|
command line cannot be assembled,
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
2003-01-27 18:16:36 +00:00
|
|
|
cannot be invoked, an invocation of
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
is terminated by a signal,
|
|
|
|
or an invocation of
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
exits with a value of 255.
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
The
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
utility exits with a value of 0 if no error occurs.
|
|
|
|
If
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
cannot be found,
|
|
|
|
.Nm
|
|
|
|
exits with a value of 127, otherwise if
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
|
|
|
cannot be executed,
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
2002-04-19 23:28:54 +00:00
|
|
|
exits with a value of 126.
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
If any other error occurs,
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
exits with a value of 1.
|
|
|
|
.Sh SEE ALSO
|
|
|
|
.Xr echo 1 ,
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
.Xr find 1 ,
|
|
|
|
.Xr execvp 3
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
.Sh STANDARDS
|
|
|
|
The
|
1997-08-27 06:26:23 +00:00
|
|
|
.Nm
|
1994-05-27 12:33:43 +00:00
|
|
|
utility is expected to be
|
|
|
|
.St -p1003.2
|
|
|
|
compliant.
|
2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
|
|
|
The
|
2002-12-23 15:15:35 +00:00
|
|
|
.Fl J , P
|
2002-05-02 03:29:38 +00:00
|
|
|
and
|
|
|
|
.Fl R
|
|
|
|
options are non-standard
|
2001-05-15 00:31:19 +00:00
|
|
|
.Fx
|
2002-05-02 03:29:38 +00:00
|
|
|
extensions which may not be available on other operating systems.
|
2002-06-10 22:59:59 +00:00
|
|
|
.Sh HISTORY
|
|
|
|
The
|
|
|
|
.Nm
|
|
|
|
command appeared in PWB UNIX.
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
.Sh BUGS
|
|
|
|
If
|
|
|
|
.Ar utility
|
2001-04-13 09:15:16 +00:00
|
|
|
attempts to invoke another command such that the number of arguments or the
|
2001-04-10 23:16:55 +00:00
|
|
|
size of the environment is increased, it risks
|
|
|
|
.Xr execvp 3
|
|
|
|
failing with
|
2001-04-13 09:15:16 +00:00
|
|
|
.Er E2BIG .
|