XARGS(1) BSD Reference Manual XARGS(1)
x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs - construct argument list(s) and execute utility
S
\bSY
\bYN
\bNO
\bOP
\bPS
\bSI
\bIS
\bS
x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs [-
\b-t
\bt] [[-
\b-x
\bx]-
\b-n
\bn _
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br] [-
\b-s
\bs _
\bs_
\bi_
\bz_
\be] [_
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by [_
\ba_
\br_
\bg_
\bu_
\bm_
\be_
\bn_
\bt_
\bs _
\b._
\b._
\b.]]
D
\bDE
\bES
\bSC
\bCR
\bRI
\bIP
\bPT
\bTI
\bIO
\bON
\bN
The x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs utility reads space, tab, newline and end-of-file delimited ar-
guments from the standard input and executes the specified _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by with
The utility and any arguments specified on the command line are given to
the _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by upon each invocation, followed by some number of the argu-
ments read from standard input. The _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by is repeatedly executed until
standard input is exhausted.
Spaces, tabs and newlines may be embedded in arguments using single
(`` ' '') or double (``"'') quotes or backslashes (``\''). Single quotes
escape all non-single quote characters, excluding newlines, up to the
matching single quote. Double quotes escape all non-double quote charac-
ters, excluding newlines, up to the matching double quote. Any single
character, including newlines, may be escaped by a backslash.
The options are as follows:
-
\b-n
\bn _
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br
Set the maximum number of arguments taken from standard input for
each invocation of the utility. An invocation of _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by will
use less than _
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br standard input arguments if the number of
bytes accumulated (see the -
\b-s
\bs option) exceeds the specified _
\bs_
\bi_
\bz_
\be
or there are fewer than _
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br arguments remaining for the last
invocation of _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by. The current default value for _
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br is
-
\b-s
\bs _
\bs_
\bi_
\bz_
\be
Set the maximum number of bytes for the command line length pro-
vided to _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by. The sum of the length of the utility name and
the arguments passed to _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by (including NULL terminators) will
be less than or equal to this number. The current default value
for _
\bs_
\bi_
\bz_
\be is ARG_MAX - 2048.
-
\b-t
\bt Echo the command to be executed to standard error immediately be-
-
\b-x
\bx Force x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs to terminate immediately if a command line containing
_
\bn_
\bu_
\bm_
\bb_
\be_
\br arguments will not fit in the specified (or default) com-
If no _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by is specified, echo(1) is used.
Undefined behavior may occur if _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by reads from the standard input.
The x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs utility exits immediately (without processing any further in-
put) if a command line cannot be assembled, _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by cannot be invoked, an
invocation of the utility is terminated by a signal or an invocation of
the utility exits with a value of 255.
The x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs utility exits with a value of 0 if no error occurs. If _
\bu_
\bt_
\bi_
\bl_
\bi_
\bt_
\by
cannot be invoked, x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs exits with a value of 127. If any other error
occurs, x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs exits with a value of 1.
S
\bSE
\bEE
\bE A
\bAL
\bLS
\bSO
\bO
S
\bST
\bTA
\bAN
\bND
\bDA
\bAR
\bRD
\bDS
\bS
The x
\bxa
\bar
\brg
\bgs
\bs utility is expected to be IEEE Std1003.2 (``POSIX'') compliant.
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