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apply(1)
NAME
  apply - Applies a command to a set of arguments

SYNOPSIS
  apply [-acharacter] [-number] command argument...

  The apply command runs the specified command on each argument in turn.

OPTIONS
  -acharacter
      Identifies the character used instead of the % (percent sign) to
      designate argument substitution strings.

  -number
      Specifies the number of arguments to be passed to command.

DESCRIPTION
  Normally, arguments are chosen individually; the optional number specifies
  the number of arguments to be passed to command. If number is 0 (zero),
  command is run without arguments once for each argument.

  If you include character sequences of the form %n (where n is a digit from
  1 to 9) in command, they are replaced by the nth unused argument following
  command when command is executed.  If any such sequences occur, number is
  ignored, and the number of arguments passed to command is the maximum value
  of n in command.

  You can specify a character other than % (percent sign) to designate
  argument substitution character strings with the -a option; for example,
  -a@ would indicate that the sequences @1 and @2 were to be replaced by the
  first and second unused arguments following command.

NOTES
  Shell metacharacters in command may have undesirable effects; it is best to
  enclose complicated commands in '  ' (single quotes).

  There is no way to pass a % (percent sign) followed immediately by any
  number if % is the argument expansion character.

EXAMPLES
   1.  The following command is similar to ls:
	    apply echo *

   2.  The following command compares the file a1 to the file b1, a2 to b2,
       and so on:
	    apply -2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2 ...

   3.  The following command runs who 5 times:
	    apply -0 who 1 2 3 4 5

   4.  The following command links all files in the current directory to the
       directory /usr/joe:
	    apply 'ln %1 /usr/joe' *

SEE ALSO
  Commands:  sh(1), xargs(1)

Index for Section 1

Alphabetical listing for A

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