So xargs just opens up standard input, reads data, reads a file per line as default and calls an instance of the following program with a command line argument of one of the files for each file.

Actually xargs can-call/calls the program with multiple args. You can also specify the number of args using -n switch

people prefer xargs because it avoids the Argument list too long problem. Also the -exec is not as efficient as xargs because it calls the prog each time it finds a file while xargs knows how big is OK and calls it accordingly! i.e. fewer calls to the prog

cheers

SK

In reply to Re^3: Receiving Standard Input/Piped by sk
in thread Receiving Standard Input/Piped by thekestrel

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