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Help me understand bash syntax (programming.dev)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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I was trying to find all symbolic links in /usr/lib and use file on the first entry in the list, which I delimited with head -n 1.

Why does find /usr/lib -maxdepth 1 -type l | file $(head -n 1) work but find /usr/lib -maxdepth 1 -type l | head -n 1 | file does not?

It complains that I am not using file correctly. Probably because it lacks an argument, but - programmatically/syntactically - why can't file grab it's argument from the pipe?

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[–] [S] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

Thanks! I actually did try that, at which point it said "/dev/stdin ASCII text" or the likes, so it's like the file command literally read the stdin device. Which was extremely intriguing, but not what I wanted. God, I love Linux :D

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago

    It's not like it, it's exactly it. The output from find is text, - means read stdin, so file told you the text in stdin was text. You'll have to see if it takes a list of files as an option, otherwise just use a for loop.

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