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How to quote arguments with xargs

Why does my shell script choke on whitespace or other special characters?Why does xargs strip quotes from input?How can I find files and then use xargs to move them?Use xargs to move files from within a directoryxargs line too longMakes it a difference whether I use a different -n flag value for xargs in combination with find command ?Deleting files with spaces in their namesCombine xargs -I with sedRunning more than one command with xargsFind fullpath and filename under a directory then pass to an executable file as argumentsHave `xargs` run the arguments it's received every <maximum amount of time> instead of every `-n` arguments?xargs vertical alignment of output

.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty{ margin-bottom:0;
}

13

4

Suppose that I want to delete all files in a folder that are greater than 1 MB.

$ find . -size +1M | xargs -0 rm

This will not delete files that have space in their names. So I want it to quote all arguments it sends to rm. If find gives it Some report.docx it should pass "Some report.docx" to rm.

How can I do that?

shell find quoting rm xargs

share|improve this question

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

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• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You should read this mywiki.wooledge.org/UsingFind?highlight=%28xargs%29 before doing anything with xargs. Also as the wiki suggests, don't use xargs without passing the -print0 to find.
  
  – Valentin Bajrami
  Dec 10 '14 at 8:38
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  More generally, see Why does my shell script choke on whitespace or other special characters?
  
  – Gilles
  Dec 10 '14 at 20:52
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Use xargs -d$'n' to limit the delimiter to only new lines (and not spaces; this wouldn't process quotes etc. specially -- I've checked on a GNU system) -- the answer given in stackoverflow.com/a/33528111/94687
  
  – imz -- Ivan Zakharyaschev
  May 11 '17 at 12:31
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

13

4

Suppose that I want to delete all files in a folder that are greater than 1 MB.

$ find . -size +1M | xargs -0 rm

This will not delete files that have space in their names. So I want it to quote all arguments it sends to rm. If find gives it Some report.docx it should pass "Some report.docx" to rm.

How can I do that?

shell find quoting rm xargs

share|improve this question

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

3,3891010 gold badges4545 silver badges6161 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  You should read this mywiki.wooledge.org/UsingFind?highlight=%28xargs%29 before doing anything with xargs. Also as the wiki suggests, don't use xargs without passing the -print0 to find.
  
  – Valentin Bajrami
  Dec 10 '14 at 8:38
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  1
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  More generally, see Why does my shell script choke on whitespace or other special characters?
  
  – Gilles
  Dec 10 '14 at 20:52
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  Use xargs -d$'n' to limit the delimiter to only new lines (and not spaces; this wouldn't process quotes etc. specially -- I've checked on a GNU system) -- the answer given in stackoverflow.com/a/33528111/94687
  
  – imz -- Ivan Zakharyaschev
  May 11 '17 at 12:31
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

Suppose that I want to delete all files in a folder that are greater than 1 MB.

$ find . -size +1M | xargs -0 rm

This will not delete files that have space in their names. So I want it to quote all arguments it sends to rm. If find gives it Some report.docx it should pass "Some report.docx" to rm.

How can I do that?

shell find quoting rm xargs

share|improve this question

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

3,3891010 gold badges4545 silver badges6161 bronze badges

$ find . -size +1M | xargs -0 rm

share|improve this question

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

3,3891010 gold badges4545 silver badges6161 bronze badges

share|improve this question

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

3,3891010 gold badges4545 silver badges6161 bronze badges

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

edited Dec 10 '14 at 20:51

Gilles

571k138138 gold badges11801180 silver badges16921692 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

3,3891010 gold badges4545 silver badges6161 bronze badges

asked Dec 10 '14 at 8:22

Kshitiz SharmaKshitiz Sharma

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3 Answers
3

active

oldest

votes

11

Simple use:

find . -size +1M -delete

If you insist using xargs and rm with find, just add -print0 in your command:

find . -size +1M -print0 | xargs -r0 rm --

Other way:

find . -size +1M -execdir rm -- {} +

From man find:

-print0

    True; print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a null 

character (instead of the newline character that -print uses). This allows file names 

that contain newlines or other types of white space to be correctly interpreted by 

programs that process the find output. This option corresponds to the -0 option of 

xargs.

share|improve this answer

edited Dec 11 '14 at 5:22

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This solves the problem but actually quoting the arguments would be useful in other cases. So I'll hold on for other answers. +1 for a simple solution though.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 10 '14 at 8:33
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @KshitizSharma No, you do not want to pass "Some report.docx" to rm, unless the file name contains the quotes. What you want is to pass Some report.docx unmolested to rm. KasiyA's answer (now) shows the general way to do that with find. [KasiyA: sorry for the wrong ping earlier.]
  
  – Gilles
  Dec 10 '14 at 21:22
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Gilles Correct. In bash I generally quote the string to pass it unmolested. So by quoting what I meant was to send filename as a single argument to rm instead of being split up into $0 and $1 etc.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 11 '14 at 6:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On OSX I do xargs -0 instead of xargs -r0.
  
  – Rolf
  Sep 13 '18 at 15:56
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

8

Option -0 of xargs means that output from pipe is interpreted as null terminated items. In such case you also need to create input for the pipe with find ... -print0.

share|improve this answer

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

add a comment | 

0

I had a similar requirement and ended up using the -I switch to have a placeholder and I was able to quote it.

find . -size +1M | xargs -I {} rm "{}"

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

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11

Simple use:

find . -size +1M -delete

If you insist using xargs and rm with find, just add -print0 in your command:

find . -size +1M -print0 | xargs -r0 rm --

Other way:

find . -size +1M -execdir rm -- {} +

From man find:

-print0

    True; print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a null 

character (instead of the newline character that -print uses). This allows file names 

that contain newlines or other types of white space to be correctly interpreted by 

programs that process the find output. This option corresponds to the -0 option of 

xargs.

share|improve this answer

edited Dec 11 '14 at 5:22

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This solves the problem but actually quoting the arguments would be useful in other cases. So I'll hold on for other answers. +1 for a simple solution though.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 10 '14 at 8:33
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @KshitizSharma No, you do not want to pass "Some report.docx" to rm, unless the file name contains the quotes. What you want is to pass Some report.docx unmolested to rm. KasiyA's answer (now) shows the general way to do that with find. [KasiyA: sorry for the wrong ping earlier.]
  
  – Gilles
  Dec 10 '14 at 21:22
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Gilles Correct. In bash I generally quote the string to pass it unmolested. So by quoting what I meant was to send filename as a single argument to rm instead of being split up into $0 and $1 etc.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 11 '14 at 6:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On OSX I do xargs -0 instead of xargs -r0.
  
  – Rolf
  Sep 13 '18 at 15:56
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

11

Simple use:

find . -size +1M -delete

If you insist using xargs and rm with find, just add -print0 in your command:

find . -size +1M -print0 | xargs -r0 rm --

Other way:

find . -size +1M -execdir rm -- {} +

From man find:

-print0

    True; print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a null 

character (instead of the newline character that -print uses). This allows file names 

that contain newlines or other types of white space to be correctly interpreted by 

programs that process the find output. This option corresponds to the -0 option of 

xargs.

share|improve this answer

edited Dec 11 '14 at 5:22

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  This solves the problem but actually quoting the arguments would be useful in other cases. So I'll hold on for other answers. +1 for a simple solution though.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 10 '14 at 8:33
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  2
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @KshitizSharma No, you do not want to pass "Some report.docx" to rm, unless the file name contains the quotes. What you want is to pass Some report.docx unmolested to rm. KasiyA's answer (now) shows the general way to do that with find. [KasiyA: sorry for the wrong ping earlier.]
  
  – Gilles
  Dec 10 '14 at 21:22
  
  
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  @Gilles Correct. In bash I generally quote the string to pass it unmolested. So by quoting what I meant was to send filename as a single argument to rm instead of being split up into $0 and $1 etc.
  
  – Kshitiz Sharma
  Dec 11 '14 at 6:36
  

  
  
  
  


• 
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  On OSX I do xargs -0 instead of xargs -r0.
  
  – Rolf
  Sep 13 '18 at 15:56
  

  
  
  
  

add a comment | 

Simple use:

find . -size +1M -delete

If you insist using xargs and rm with find, just add -print0 in your command:

find . -size +1M -print0 | xargs -r0 rm --

Other way:

find . -size +1M -execdir rm -- {} +

From man find:

-print0

    True; print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a null 

character (instead of the newline character that -print uses). This allows file names 

that contain newlines or other types of white space to be correctly interpreted by 

programs that process the find output. This option corresponds to the -0 option of 

xargs.

share|improve this answer

edited Dec 11 '14 at 5:22

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

find . -size +1M -delete

find . -size +1M -print0 | xargs -r0 rm --

find . -size +1M -execdir rm -- {} +

-print0

    True; print the full file name on the standard output, followed by a null 

character (instead of the newline character that -print uses). This allows file names 

that contain newlines or other types of white space to be correctly interpreted by 

programs that process the find output. This option corresponds to the -0 option of 

xargs.

share|improve this answer

edited Dec 11 '14 at 5:22

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:24

αғsнιηαғsнιη

18.6k1111 gold badges3434 silver badges7171 bronze badges

8

Option -0 of xargs means that output from pipe is interpreted as null terminated items. In such case you also need to create input for the pipe with find ... -print0.

share|improve this answer

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

add a comment | 

8

Option -0 of xargs means that output from pipe is interpreted as null terminated items. In such case you also need to create input for the pipe with find ... -print0.

share|improve this answer

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

add a comment | 

Option -0 of xargs means that output from pipe is interpreted as null terminated items. In such case you also need to create input for the pipe with find ... -print0.

share|improve this answer

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

share|improve this answer

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

answered Dec 10 '14 at 8:39

jimmijjimmij

33.9k88 gold badges8282 silver badges116116 bronze badges

0

I had a similar requirement and ended up using the -I switch to have a placeholder and I was able to quote it.

find . -size +1M | xargs -I {} rm "{}"

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

0

I had a similar requirement and ended up using the -I switch to have a placeholder and I was able to quote it.

find . -size +1M | xargs -I {} rm "{}"

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

I had a similar requirement and ended up using the -I switch to have a placeholder and I was able to quote it.

find . -size +1M | xargs -I {} rm "{}"

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

find . -size +1M | xargs -I {} rm "{}"

share|improve this answer

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges

New contributor

dee-see is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

answered yesterday

dee-seedee-see

10122 bronze badges