apply(1)
Name
apply − apply a command to a set of arguments
Syntax
apply [−ac] [−n] command args...
Description
The apply program runs the named command on each argument arg in turn. Normally arguments are chosen singly; the optional number n specifies the number of arguments to be passed to command. If n is zero, command is run without arguments once for each arg. Character sequences of the form %d in command, where d is a digit from 1 to 9, are replaced by the d’th following unused arg. If any such sequences occur, n is ignored, and the number of arguments passed to command is the maximum value of d in command. The percent sign (%) character can be changed by the −a option.
Examples
The following command line is similar to ls(:):
apply echo *
The next example compares the specified a files to the specified b files:
apply −2 cmp a1 b1 a2 b2 ...
The following example run the who command 5 times and links all files in the current directory to the directory /usr/joe:
apply ’ln %1 /usr/joe’ *
Restrictions
Shell metacharacters in command may have unexpected results; it is best to enclose complicated commands in single quotes (’ ’).
You cannot pass a literal, ’%2’, if the percent sign (%) is the argument expansion character.