xargs(1)						      General Commands Manual							  xargs(1)

NAME

       xargs - construct argument lists and execute command

SYNOPSIS

       [options] [command [initial-arguments]]

DESCRIPTION

       combines  the fixed initial-arguments with arguments read from standard input to execute the specified command one or more times.  The num-
       ber of arguments read for each command invocation and the manner in which they are combined are determined by the options specified.

       command, which can be a shell file, is searched for, using the environment variable.  If command is omitted, is used.

       Arguments read in from standard input are defined to be contiguous strings of characters delimited by one or more  blanks,  tabs,  or  new-
       lines; empty lines are always discarded.  Spaces and tabs can be embedded as part of an argument if escaped or quoted.  Characters enclosed
       in quotes (single or double) are taken literally, and the delimiting quotes are removed.  Outside of quoted strings,  a	backslash  escapes
       the next character.

       The amount of memory available for the execution of command is limited by the system parameter By default, the size of the argument list is
       limited to bytes.  See limits(5) and sysconf(2) for a description of these system parameters and how their values can  be  determined.	To
       increase the available argument list space, use the option.

       Each  argument  list  is  constructed  starting	with  the initial-arguments, followed by some number of arguments read from standard input
       (exception: see or option).  The and options determine how arguments are selected for each command invocation.  When none of these  options
       is  specified, the initial-arguments are followed by arguments read continuously from standard input until an internal buffer is full, then
       command is executed with the accumulated args.  This process is repeated until there are no more args.  When  there  are  option  conflicts
       (such as or versus the last option has precedence.

   Options
       The option values are:

       command	      is  executed  for  each nonempty number lines of arguments from standard input.  The last invocation of command will be with
		      fewer lines of arguments if fewer than number remain.  A line is considered to end with the first newline the last character
		      of  the line is a blank or a tab; a trailing blank/tab signals continuation through the next nonempty line.  The and options
		      are mutually exclusive.  The last one specified takes effect.

       This option is equivalent to the
		      option.  is assumed if number is omitted or is given as the empty string ().  Option is forced.

       Insert mode:   command is executed for each line from standard input, taking the entire line as a single arg, inserting it in initial-argu-
		      ments  for each occurrence of replstr.  A maximum of 5 arguments in initial-arguments can each contain one or more instances
		      of replstr.  Blanks and tabs at the beginning of each line are discarded.  Constructed arguments must not grow  larger  than
		      255 bytes, and option is also forced.  The and options are mutually exclusive.  The last one specified takes effect.

       This option is equivalent to the
		      option.  is assumed if replstr is omitted or is given as the empty string ().

       Execute	      command  using  as  many	standard input arguments as possible, up to number arguments maximum.  Fewer arguments are used if
		      their total size is greater than size bytes, and for the last invocation if there are fewer than number arguments remaining.
		      If option is also coded, each number arguments must fit in the size limitation or terminates execution.

       The maximum total size of each argument list is set to
		      size  bytes;  size  must	be  a  positive  integer  less than (see limits(5), sysconf(2)).  If is not coded, is taken as the
		      default.	Note that the bytes count for size includes one extra bytes for each argument and the count of bytes in  the  com-
		      mand name.

       Trace mode: The
		      command and each constructed argument list are echoed to standard error just prior to their execution.

       Prompt mode: The user is asked whether to execute
		      command  prior  to  each	invocation.   Trace  mode is turned on to print the command instance to be executed, followed by a
		      prompt.  An affirmative reply (by default, an affirmative reply is optionally followed by anything)  executes  the  command;
		      anything else, including pressing Return, skips that particular invocation of command.

       Causes	      to  terminate  if any argument list would be greater than size bytes.  is forced by the options and When none of the options
		      or is coded, the total length of all arguments must be within the size limit.

       eofstr	      is taken as the logical end-of-file string.  Underscore is assumed for the logical string if neither nor is used.  The value
		      with eofstr given as the empty string ( "" ) turns off the logical string capability (underscore is taken literally).  reads
		      standard input until either end-of-file or the logical string is encountered.

       Specify a logical end-of-file string to replace the default underscore
		      character.  Equivalent to the option above.

       terminates if it receives a return code of -1 from command or if it cannot execute command.  When command is a  shell  program,	it  should
       explicitly (see sh(1)) with an appropriate value to avoid accidentally returning with -1.

RETURN VALUE

       exits with one of the following values:

	      All invocations of
			command completed successfully.

	      One or more invocations of
			command did not complete successfully.

	      The	command specified was found but could not be invoked.

	      The	command specified could not be found.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

   Environment Variables
       determines the space characters and the interpretation of text as single- and/or multibyte characters.

       determines  the	language in which messages are displayed, and the local language equivalent of an affirmative reply when the prompt option
       is specified.

       If or is not specified in the environment or is set to the empty string, the value of is used as a default for each  unspecified  or  empty
       variable.  If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5)) is used instead of

       If  any	internationalization  variable	contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization variables are set to "C".  See
       environ(5).

   International Code Set Support
       Single- and multibyte character code sets are supported.

EXAMPLES

       Move all files from directory to directory and echo each move command just before doing it:

       Combine the output of the parenthesized commands onto one line, then echo to the end of file

       Ask the user which files in the current directory are to be archived then archive them into one at a time:

       or many at a time:

       Execute (see diff(1)) with successive pairs of arguments originally typed as shell arguments:

SEE ALSO

       sh(1).

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

																	  xargs(1)