ubuntuxargs

The strange behavior of xargs with option -L

echo -e "a b \nc d"|xargs -L1
a b c d
echo -e "a b\nc d"|xargs -L1
a b
c d

see the above code. The man page says that "-Lmax-line means Use at most max-lines nonblank input lines per command line". The two stdin are both supposed to be two lines but the first line of the first code ends with a space. But clearly the first only execute one command and the second one two.

Solution

  • You need to read the whole paragraph, not just the first sentence.

    -L max-lines

    Use at most max-lines nonblank input lines per command line. Trailing blanks cause an input line to be logically continued on the next input line. Implies -x.

    Emphasis mine.