Unix find with exec + and extra variables

Question

I have a need for recursively looking through a directory and pass all files with a certain extension to a script. In addition it also takes some optional command lines arguments from the user. To put it all together, I did this

usage="blah" while [ "$1" != "" ]; do case $1 in -arg1 ) shift arg1=$1 ;; -arg2 ) shift arg2=$1 ;; * ) echo $usage exit 1 esac shift done find . -name "*.ext" -exec bash -c 'command "$0" arg1="${arg1:-default}" arg2=${arg2:-default}' "{}" \+

However this runs the 'command' command and only passes one file in. How do I get to send the list of files as an argument as well as keep the command line arguments?

EDIT: The command should run only once for the list of matched files.

BTW, quoting the {} in find ... -exec ... {} + is only needed for zsh, and the + doesn't need to be quoted at all. — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 21:07
Does using "$@" and - {} do what you want? Does argument order between the find-provided arguments and arg1/arg2 matter? — Etan Reisner
– Etan Reisner, Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 21:44
...as another aside, command is an actual shell builtin, so when you use it, folks have to figure out from context whether you actually mean command or if it's a placeholder. Consider something like mycommand or yourcommand in examples instead. — Charles Duffy
– Charles Duffy, Commented Jan 20, 2016 at 21:50

Charles Duffy · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-20 21:24:52Z

1

You don't need bash -c here at all!

find . -name '*.ext' \ -exec yourcommand arg1="${arg1:-default}" arg2="${arg2:-default}" {} +

See edit history for a discussion of exactly how the old version was broken and how to do more targeted fixes for cases when you really do need a shell.

edited Jan 20, 2016 at 21:24

answered Jan 20, 2016 at 21:03

Charles Duffy

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3 Comments

cowboybebop Over a year ago

Forgot to mention one thing - I want to supply all files and run the command just once. Not run it once per file.

Charles Duffy Over a year ago

Ahh, gotcha. If the list is too long that actually might not be possible -- like xargs (or any other program on UNIX), find -exec ... {} + can't put more entries on a command line that will fit in ARG_MAX. However, that makes your question much easier. :)

cowboybebop Over a year ago

the @$ tip is very handy. Thanks!

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