xargs -- Command

Execute a command with many arguments
xargs command argument ... argument

COHERENT  limits  the  amount  of  memory  available to  hold  a  command's
arguments; therefore, a command will  fail if its list of arguments exceeds
this limit.  This limit is set  by the constant BUFSIZ, which is defined in
the header file stdio.h.

To  avoid this  problem, COHERENT  offers the  command xargs.  This command
executes command  and passes to  it every argument.  An argument can  be an
option  to command,  the name  of a  file, or  anything else  that commands
expects.  xargs  then redirects the  standard input into  command. xargs is
careful not  to exceed  the system-imposed limit,  which is expected  to be
greater  than BUFSIZ.  It  continues to  execute command  with the  read-in
arguments until it reaches end-of-file.

See Also

commands,
exec,
execution

Notes

The COHERENT  implementation of xargs  performs only the most  basic -- and
most important  -- behaviors  of xargs. You  must rewrite all  scripts that
depend upon  the more  exotic behaviors  of the System-V  implementation of
xargs.

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness