Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!ucsd!rutgers!bellcore!faline!thumper!ulysses!andante!amdcad!rpw3
From: rpw3@amdcad.AMD.COM (Rob Warnock)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Endian wars - really 386 questi
Message-ID: <24318@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Date: 3 Feb 89 03:59:46 GMT
References: <30@microsoft.UUCP> <28200266@mcdurb>
Reply-To: rpw3@amdcad.UUCP (Rob Warnock)
Organization: [Consultant] San Mateo, CA
Lines: 35

[(*Sigh*) I was replying to individuals directly when I saw lots of posted
replies, so I should probably say it here, even though its implication for
"architecture" is mainly the architecture of command line interfaces.]

+---------------
| (Quick: who's run into Unix's 10K command-line limit?)
+---------------

Yes, all of us, until we [most of us?] started using the standard utility
program "xargs" (used to be System-V only, until a p-d source for a useful
subset for 4.x BSD was posted several years ago). With "xargs", that 10k limit
becomes a non-issue. Instead of, for example:

	$ some_cmd -options `find <selection> -print`
try:
	$ find <selection> -print | xargs some_cmd -options

"Xargs" gathers lines from standard input until it gets "close" to the
system-established limits on command-line length, then runs "some_cmd"
with a "bunch" of args (repeating "-options" each time), then repeats
until EOF on input. It's also got options to limit the number of input
items gathered per bunch, so you can do things in pairs, triples, etc.

Simple idea. You could code one up quickly just given the idea. (But I
admit *I* never thought of it until the System-V "xargs" came out...)


Rob Warnock
Systems Architecture Consultant

UUCP:	  {amdcad,fortune,sun}!redwood!rpw3
ATTmail:  !rpw3
DDD:	  (415)572-2607
USPS:	  627 26th Ave, San Mateo, CA  94403