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 11/26/99 April 29, 1985 1