[unix-history] / usr / man / man1 / apply.1

.TH APPLY 1 "24 February 1979"
.SH NAME
apply \- apply a command to a set of arguments
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B apply
[
.B \-a\fIc\fP
] [
.B \-\fIn\fP
] command args ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Apply
runs the named
.I command
on each
argument
.I arg
in turn.
Normally arguments are chosen singly; the optional number
.I n
specifies the number of arguments to be passed to
.I command.
If
.I n
is zero,
.I command
is run without arguments once for each
.I arg.
Character sequences of the form %\fId\fP
in
.I command,
where
.I d
is a digit from 1 to 9,
are replaced by the
\fId\fP'th following unused
.I arg.
If any such sequences occur,
.I n
is ignored,
and the number of arguments passed to
.I command
is the maximum value of
.I d
in
.I command.
The character `%' may be changed by the
.B \-a
option.
.PP
Examples:
.RS
apply echo *
.RE
is similar to ls(1);
.RS
apply \-2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2 ...
.RE
compares the `a' files to the `b' files;
.RS
apply \-0 who 1 2 3 4 5
.RE
runs who(1) 5 times; and
.RS
apply \(aaln %1 /usr/joe\(aa *
.RE
links all files in the current directory to the directory /usr/joe.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
sh(1)
.SH AUTHOR
Rob Pike
.SH BUGS
Shell metacharacters in
.I command
may have bizarre effects; it is best to enclose complicated
commands in single quotes \(aa\ \(aa.
.sp
There is no way to pass a literal `%2' if `%' is the
argument expansion character.
Commit	Line	Data
11a514e8 C	1	.TH APPLY 1 "24 February 1979"
	2	.SH NAME
	3	apply \- apply a command to a set of arguments
	4	.SH SYNOPSIS
	5	.B apply
	6	[
	7	.B \-a\fIc\fP
	8	] [
	9	.B \-\fIn\fP
	10	] command args ...
	11	.SH DESCRIPTION
	12	.I Apply
	13	runs the named
	14	.I command
	15	on each
	16	argument
	17	.I arg
	18	in turn.
	19	Normally arguments are chosen singly; the optional number
	20	.I n
	21	specifies the number of arguments to be passed to
	22	.I command.
	23	If
	24	.I n
	25	is zero,
	26	.I command
	27	is run without arguments once for each
	28	.I arg.
	29	Character sequences of the form %\fId\fP
	30	in
	31	.I command,
	32	where
	33	.I d
	34	is a digit from 1 to 9,
	35	are replaced by the
	36	\fId\fP'th following unused
	37	.I arg.
	38	If any such sequences occur,
	39	.I n
	40	is ignored,
	41	and the number of arguments passed to
	42	.I command
	43	is the maximum value of
	44	.I d
	45	in
	46	.I command.
	47	The character `%' may be changed by the
	48	.B \-a
	49	option.
	50	.PP
	51	Examples:
	52	.RS
	53	apply echo *
	54	.RE
	55	is similar to ls(1);
	56	.RS
	57	apply \-2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2 ...
	58	.RE
	59	compares the `a' files to the `b' files;
	60	.RS
	61	apply \-0 who 1 2 3 4 5
	62	.RE
	63	runs who(1) 5 times; and
	64	.RS
65	apply \(aaln %1 /usr/joe\(aa *
66	.RE
67	links all files in the current directory to the directory /usr/joe.
68	.SH "SEE ALSO"
69	sh(1)
70	.SH AUTHOR
71	Rob Pike
72	.SH BUGS
73	Shell metacharacters in
74	.I command
75	may have bizarre effects; it is best to enclose complicated
76	commands in single quotes \(aa\ \(aa.
77	.sp
78	There is no way to pass a literal `%2' if `%' is the
79	argument expansion character.