xargs

Question 1

xargs

Answer 1

xargs reads items 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 items read from standard input.

Question 2

xargs -a file1.txt

Answer 2

This command will read file1.txt and displays the contents.

-a file, –arg-file=file, Read items from file instead of standard input. If this option is used stdin remains unchanged when commands are run.

Question 3

xargs -p -a file1.txt

Answer 3

The -p option prompts for confirmation before running each command.

-p, –interactive, Prompt the user about whether to run each command line and read a line from the terminal.

Question 4

xargs -L

Answer 4

-L max-lines, Use at most max-lines nonblank input lines per command line. Trailing blanks cause input line to be logically continued on the next input line. Implies -x.

Question 5

xargs -n

Answer 5

-n max-args, –max-args=max-args, Use at most max-args arguments per command line.