Hi,

I get "find: missing argument to `-exec'" for the following command but I
don't know how to fix:

find /other/path ! -group grp -exec ln -s {} dest +

please . thanks

--
Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply)
http://xpt.sourceforge.net/


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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

* Tong * wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I get "find: missing argument to `-exec'" for the following command but I
> don't know how to fix:
>
> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec ln -s {} dest +
>
> please . thanks
>

Most implementations of + require it to immediately follow the {}
Otherwise, use \; rather than +

You have another problem with the ln command and the static "dest":
if find finds two or more files, you will get a "file exists" error.

--
Michael Tosch @ hp : com

2006-12-05, 21:10(+01), Michael Tosch:
> * Tong * wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I get "find: missing argument to `-exec'" for the following command but I
>> don't know how to fix:
>>
>> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec ln -s {} dest +
>>
>> please . thanks
>>
>
> Most implementations of + require it to immediately follow the {}
> Otherwise, use \; rather than +
>
> You have another problem with the ln command and the static "dest":
> if find finds two or more files, you will get a "file exists" error.
[...]

I think "dest" above is a directory, so you'll get trouble only
if find finds two files having the same name.

To answer the OP's question

find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +

--
Stéphane

On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:16:57 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:

>>> I get "find: missing argument to `-exec'" for the following command but I
>>> don't know how to fix:
>>>
>>> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec ln -s {} dest +
>
> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
> exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +

Thanks for your answers, Stephane.

May I ask why the 1st command fails?

I tried and succeeded with the following command, which looks not much
different than the 1st one:

find /other/path ! -group grp -exec chgrp arch {} +

why? thanks

--
Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply)
http://xpt.sourceforge.net/


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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

2006-12-05, 17:15(-05), * Tong *:
> On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:16:57 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:
>
>>>> I get "find: missing argument to `-exec'" for the following command but I
>>>> don't know how to fix:
>>>>
>>>> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec ln -s {} dest +
>>
>> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
>> exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +
>
> Thanks for your answers, Stephane.
>
> May I ask why the 1st command fails?
[...]

As Michael pointed out, + must follow {}.

See
http://www.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/...ties/find.html

--
Stéphane

On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 22:25:32 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:

>> May I ask why the 1st command fails?
>
> As Michael pointed out, + must follow {}.

Ops, just missed it. thank you both.

So basically {} has to be at the end, not like in xargs where it could be
anywhere...

--
Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply)
http://xpt.sourceforge.net/


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:16:57 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:

> find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
> exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +

what the arg0 here for?

(didn't find in 'find' man page.)

--
Tong (remove underscore(s) to reply)
http://xpt.sourceforge.net/


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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In article <pan.2006.12.05.23.23.29.361706@users.sourceforge. net>,
* Tong * <sun_tong_001@users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:16:57 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:
>
> > find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
> > exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +
>
> what the arg0 here for?

When using the -c option to the shell, the first argument after the
command string is used as the shell's $0, and the remaining ones fill in
$@. So you need a dummy argument to fill in $0.

A better question would be what the exec is for. Most shells
automatically exec the last (in this case only) command, kind of like
tail-call elimination in Scheme. Notice:

barmar $ sh -c 'sleep 100' &
[1] 6370
barmar $ ps -p 6370
PID TT STAT TIME COMMAND
6370 p1 S 0:00.02 sleep 100


>
> (didn't find in 'find' man page.)

Why would you expect to find documentation of a sh argument in find's
man page?

--
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

2006-12-05, 21:48(-05), Barry Margolin:
> In article <pan.2006.12.05.23.23.29.361706@users.sourceforge. net>,
> * Tong * <sun_tong_001@users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 20:16:57 +0000, Stephane CHAZELAS wrote:
>>
>> > find /other/path ! -group grp -exec sh -c '
>> > exec ln -s "$@" dest' arg0 {} +
>>
>> what the arg0 here for?
>
> When using the -c option to the shell, the first argument after the
> command string is used as the shell's $0, and the remaining ones fill in
> $@. So you need a dummy argument to fill in $0.
>
> A better question would be what the exec is for. Most shells
> automatically exec the last (in this case only) command, kind of like
> tail-call elimination in Scheme. Notice:

ash and pdksh based shells don't, AT&T ksh, bash and zsh based
ones do.

If you've got traps set up, that optimisation becomes a bug,
such as in AT&T ksh. bash and zsh know not to do that
optimisation when there are traps.

--
Stéphane