XARGS(1L)                                             XARGS(1L)





NAME
       xargs  -  build  and execute command lines from standard
       input

SYNOPSIS
       xargs [-0prtx] [-e[eof-str]] [-i[replace-str]]  [-l[max-
       lines]]  [-n  max-args]  [-s  max-chars]  [-P max-procs]
       [--null]   [--eof[=eof-str]]   [--replace[=replace-str]]
       [--max-lines[=max-lines]]     [--interactive]    [--max-
       chars=max-chars] [--verbose] [--exit]  [--max-procs=max-
       procs] [--max-args=max-args] [--no-run-if-empty] [--ver-
       sion] [--help] [command [initial-arguments]]

DESCRIPTION
       This manual page documents the  GNU  version  of  xargs.
       xargs reads arguments from the standard input, delimited
       by blanks (which can be protected with double or  single
       quotes  or  a  backslash)  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
       126 if the command cannot be run
       127 if the command is not found
       1 if some other error occurred.

   OPTIONS
       --null, -0
              Input  filenames are terminated by a null charac-
              ter 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.

       --eof[=eof-str], -e[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 "_".

       --help Print a summary of the options to xargs and exit.

       --replace[=replace-str], -i[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.

       --max-lines[=max-lines], -l[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 logi-
              cally continued on the next input line.   Implies
              -x.

       --max-args=max-args, -n 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.

       --interactive, -p
              Prompt the user about whether to run each command
              line and read a line from the terminal.  Only run
              the  command line if the response starts with `y'
              or `Y'.  Implies -t.

       --no-run-if-empty, -r
              If the standard input does not contain  any  non-
              blanks,  do  not  run the command.  Normally, the
              command is run once even if there is no input.

       --max-chars=max-chars, -s 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.

       --verbose, -t
              Print the command line on the standard error out-
              put before executing it.

       --version
              Print the version number of xargs and exit.

       --exit, -x
              Exit if the size (see the -s option) is exceeded.

       --max-procs=max-procs, -P max-procs
              Run up to max-procs  processes  at  a  time;  the
              default  is 1.  If max-procs is 0, xargs will run
              as many processes as possible at a time.  Use the
              -n  option  with  -P;  otherwise chances are that
              only one exec will be done.

SEE ALSO
       find(1L), locate(1L), locatedb(5L), updatedb(1)  Finding
       Files (on-line in Info, or printed)



                                                      XARGS(1L)
