Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site cbneb.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!cbosgd!cbscc!cbneb!adm From: adm@cbneb.UUCP Newsgroups: net.unix Subject: Re: tar .vs. cpio - (nf) Message-ID: <1227@cbneb.UUCP> Date: Tue, 14-Aug-84 10:23:19 EDT Article-I.D.: cbneb.1227 Posted: Tue Aug 14 10:23:19 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 15-Aug-84 02:04:17 EDT Sender: adm@cbneb.UUCP Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus, OHIO Lines: 19 #R:ucbopal:-19800:cbnap:27300004:000:579 cbnap!whp Aug 14 09:36:00 1984 >>It isn't really very hard: >> tar`find ...` >> >>Accepting file names on the command line is the Unix convention. >> Barry Margolin > >No. It may be the Unix convention but it is not useful for dumping large >numbers of files (like when doing a backup). There is a limit on how large >an argument list can be passed to a program. I don't know about BSD UNIX, but in sys V you can always use: find |xargs tar (xargs is a program that reads stdin, constructs and executes a proper command line, and repeats until eof is found on stdin)