bugfindutils - Bugs: bug #26327, xargs man page is vague about the...

 
 

bug #26327: xargs man page is vague about the number of times command is executed

Submitted by:  Filipus Klutiero <chealer>
Submitted on:  Fri 24 Apr 2009 05:14:46 AM UTC  
 
Category: documentationSeverity: 3 - Normal
Item Group: NoneStatus: Fixed
Privacy: PublicAssigned to: James Youngman <jay>
Originator Name: Open/Closed: Closed
Release: NoneFixed Release: 4.5.6b

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Sun 12 Jul 2009 08:55:36 PM UTC, comment #3:

Thanks. Fixed.

James Youngman <jay>
Project AdministratorIn charge of this item.
Sun 12 Jul 2009 03:01:31 PM UTC, comment #2:

Thank you jay.

Note typo "prarallel" in the patch.

Filipus Klutiero <chealer>
Sun 12 Jul 2009 12:07:46 PM UTC, comment #1:

I've just applied the attached patch to the 4.5.x tree.

(file #18412)

James Youngman <jay>
Project AdministratorIn charge of this item.
Fri 24 Apr 2009 05:14:46 AM UTC, original submission:

The xargs manual page contains

This manual page documents the GNU version of xargs. 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.

This is a rather strange or vague introduction. One wonders how many times command is executed. It could be mentioned that without options, xargs does not necessarily pass the same number of arguments each time, and that xargs tends to read many arguments before executing a new command. It could also clarify to explain why xargs may not pass all arguments to a single command without options.
It could help to give an example of what xargs does. For example:

echo a b | xargs cat
could be equivalent to
cat a; cat b
or
cat a b

Filipus Klutiero <chealer>

 

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Attached Files
file #18412:  0001-Bug-26327-xargs-manpage-clarify-the-number-of-tim.patch added by jay (3KiB - text/x-diff - bugfix applied to 4.5.x.)

 

Depends on the following items: None found

Items that depend on this one: None found

 

Carbon-Copy List
  • -unavailable- added by jay (Updated the item)
  • -unavailable- added by chealer (Submitted the item)
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    Follow 5 latest changes.

    Date Changed By Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced By
    Wed 31 Mar 2010 07:32:21 AM UTCjayOpen/ClosedOpen=>Closed
      Fixed ReleaseNone=>4.5.6b
    Sun 12 Jul 2009 12:07:46 PM UTCjayAttached File-=>Added 0001-Bug-26327-xargs-manpage-clarify-the-number-of-tim.patch, #18412
      StatusNone=>Fixed
      Assigned toNone=>jay

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