Re: find -exec ... +

[David Holland <dholland-tech%netbsd.org@localhost>]

On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 03:39:47PM +0200, Alan Barrett wrote:
 > > but not
 > > 
 > >    % find foo -exec mv {} subdir/ +
 > 
 > Right.  See
 > <http://www.pasc.org/interps/unofficial/db/p1003.2/pasc-1003.2-210.html>
 > for the rationale:
 > 
 > " Note that the "+" is only treated as special if it immediately
 > " follows "{}".  This minimises the chances of causing problems with
 > " existing uses of "+" as an argument with "-exec".
 > 
 > Note "minimises", not "eliminates", problems with the use of "+"
 > inside a command used with "-exec ... \;".

Right.

 > > our find has a bug so it doesn't enforce this, so it breaks anyway:
 > 
 > We should fix that.

Ok, I just committed the fix (which is a one-liner).

 > A new "-mexec" primary would not have such a problem; it could just use
 > ";" as the terminator, allow "{}" anywhere, and treat "+" as not being
 > special.

That's probably the way to go. It shouldn't be that difficult to code
up...

-- 
David A. Holland
dholland%netbsd.org@localhost