Contents
How can I use xargs to copy files that have spaces?
The answer is: you don’t use xargs, because you don’t need it. The comment by user80168 describes a way to do this directly with cp, without calling cp for every file: the cp -t flag allows to give the target directory near the beginning of cp, rather than near the end. From man cp:
Is there a way to delete files from xargs?
The list of files is then piped to xargs, which uses the rm command to delete them. However, xargs does not automatically include files which contain blank spaces in their names. To include those files too, use the -print0 option for find, and the -0 option for xargs:
How does the xargs command work in Linux?
By using xargs we can make commands such as echo, rm, and mkdir accept standard input as arguments. xargs will accept piped input. It can also accept input from a file. xargs uses that input as parameters for the commands we’ve told it to work with. If we do not tell xargs to work with a specific command it will default to use echo.
Are there any irreversible operations in xargs?
Some xargs operations, like removing files and folders, are irreversible. To control the execution of those commands, use the -p option. When you execute the command with the -p option, xargs displays a confirmation line before executing it. Type y to proceed, or n to cancel the operation.
How can I use multiple commands with xargs?
We can use multiple commands with xargs by using the -I (initial arguments) option. This option defines a “replace-string.” Wherever the token for the replace-string appears in the command line, the values that were supplied to xargs are inserted.
How is the output of xargs written to the terminal?
The output is written to the terminal window, as one long stream of text. It’s this capability that let’s xargs feed parameters into other commands. We can use xargs to easily have wc count the words, characters, and lines in multiple files. ls lists the *.page files and passes the list to xargs.
What is the null terminator option in xargs?
If filenames have spaces and strange characters in them—such as newline characters— xargs will not be able to interpret them correctly. We can overcome that problem by using the -0 (null terminator) option. This tells xargs to use the null character as the final delimiter for filenames.