Xargs problem

llee4131 · 05-02-2016, 05:40 AM

I have no files on my current directory and three sub directories.

If I do
find . -maxdepth 0 -type f
predictably there is no output since there are no files.

But if I do
find . -maxdepth 0 -type f | xargs ls -isl
this produces list of the three sub directories.

I clearly stated -type f so why is this listing the sub directories?

wpeckham · 05-02-2016, 06:05 AM

Since the find is generating an empty list, xargs receives the empty list and runs the ls against it. Think: what does the ls command return if run in that folder without additional parameters?

hydrurga · 05-02-2016, 06:16 AM

find . -maxdepth 0 -type f | xargs -r ls -isl

-r: If the standard input does not contain any nonblanks, do not run the command.

llee4131 · 05-02-2016, 06:21 AM

nice!

Turbocapitalist · 05-02-2016, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wpeckham

Since the find is generating an empty list, xargs receives the empty list and runs the ls against it. Think: what does the ls command return if run in that folder without additional parameters?

You can see this more clearly if you run xargs a few times with the -t option using different input.

MadeInGermany · 05-02-2016, 07:11 AM

Like xargs -r but safer regarding special characters in filenames is

Code:

find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -exec ls -isl {} +