4.3BSD-UWisc/man/cat1/apply.1

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APPLY(1)            UNIX Programmer's Manual             APPLY(1)



NAME
     apply - apply a command to a set of arguments

SYNOPSIS
     apply [ -a_c ] [ -_n ] command args ...

DESCRIPTION
     _A_p_p_l_y runs the named _c_o_m_m_a_n_d on each argument _a_r_g in turn.
     Normally arguments are chosen singly; the optional number _n
     specifies the number of arguments to be passed to _c_o_m_m_a_n_d.
     If _n is zero, _c_o_m_m_a_n_d is run without arguments once for each
     _a_r_g. Character sequences of the form %_d in _c_o_m_m_a_n_d, where _d
     is a digit from 1 to 9, are replaced by the _d'th following
     unused _a_r_g. If any such sequences occur, _n is ignored, and
     the number of arguments passed to _c_o_m_m_a_n_d is the maximum
     value of _d in _c_o_m_m_a_n_d. The character `%' may be changed by
     the -a option.

     Examples:
          apply echo *
     is similar to ls(1);
          apply -2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2 ...
     compares the `a' files to the `b' files;
          apply -0 who 1 2 3 4 5
     runs who(1) 5 times; and
          apply 'ln %1 /usr/joe' *
     links all files in the current directory to the directory
     /usr/joe.

SEE ALSO
     sh(1)

AUTHOR
     Rob Pike

BUGS
     Shell metacharacters in _c_o_m_m_a_n_d may have bizarre effects; it
     is best to enclose complicated commands in single quotes
     ' '.

     There is no way to pass a literal `%2' if `%' is the argu-
     ment expansion character.













Printed 12/27/86         April 29, 1985                         1