Why should I escape the semicolon with find?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP












2















I'm using bash on Debian. I have to write



find -iname "*mp3" -exec cp /media/MP3Player/ ;


escaping the final semicolon, or else I get an error.










share|improve this question



















  • 1





    -exec command ;

    – Jeff Schaller
    Jan 4 at 20:20















2















I'm using bash on Debian. I have to write



find -iname "*mp3" -exec cp /media/MP3Player/ ;


escaping the final semicolon, or else I get an error.










share|improve this question



















  • 1





    -exec command ;

    – Jeff Schaller
    Jan 4 at 20:20













2












2








2








I'm using bash on Debian. I have to write



find -iname "*mp3" -exec cp /media/MP3Player/ ;


escaping the final semicolon, or else I get an error.










share|improve this question
















I'm using bash on Debian. I have to write



find -iname "*mp3" -exec cp /media/MP3Player/ ;


escaping the final semicolon, or else I get an error.







find options






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 5 at 12:41







Poor Standard

















asked Jan 4 at 20:16









Poor StandardPoor Standard

133




133







  • 1





    -exec command ;

    – Jeff Schaller
    Jan 4 at 20:20












  • 1





    -exec command ;

    – Jeff Schaller
    Jan 4 at 20:20







1




1





-exec command ;

– Jeff Schaller
Jan 4 at 20:20





-exec command ;

– Jeff Schaller
Jan 4 at 20:20










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















9














You have to escape the semicolon so that your current shell doesn't see it and use it as a command separator before find gets to see it and use it to terminate the command you're sending to -exec.



Also, the manual does state in relevant part:




-exec utility [argument ...] ;



[...]



The expression must be terminated by a semi-
colon (;). If you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise treat it as a
control operator.




n. b. quickly searching my find manual shows examples of the ; syntax.






share|improve this answer
























    Your Answer








    StackExchange.ready(function()
    var channelOptions =
    tags: "".split(" "),
    id: "106"
    ;
    initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

    StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
    // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
    if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
    StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
    createEditor();
    );

    else
    createEditor();

    );

    function createEditor()
    StackExchange.prepareEditor(
    heartbeatType: 'answer',
    autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
    convertImagesToLinks: false,
    noModals: true,
    showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
    reputationToPostImages: null,
    bindNavPrevention: true,
    postfix: "",
    imageUploader:
    brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
    contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
    allowUrls: true
    ,
    onDemand: true,
    discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
    ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
    );



    );













    draft saved

    draft discarded


















    StackExchange.ready(
    function ()
    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2funix.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f492574%2fwhy-should-i-escape-the-semicolon-with-find%23new-answer', 'question_page');

    );

    Post as a guest















    Required, but never shown

























    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes








    1 Answer
    1






    active

    oldest

    votes









    active

    oldest

    votes






    active

    oldest

    votes









    9














    You have to escape the semicolon so that your current shell doesn't see it and use it as a command separator before find gets to see it and use it to terminate the command you're sending to -exec.



    Also, the manual does state in relevant part:




    -exec utility [argument ...] ;



    [...]



    The expression must be terminated by a semi-
    colon (;). If you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise treat it as a
    control operator.




    n. b. quickly searching my find manual shows examples of the ; syntax.






    share|improve this answer





























      9














      You have to escape the semicolon so that your current shell doesn't see it and use it as a command separator before find gets to see it and use it to terminate the command you're sending to -exec.



      Also, the manual does state in relevant part:




      -exec utility [argument ...] ;



      [...]



      The expression must be terminated by a semi-
      colon (;). If you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise treat it as a
      control operator.




      n. b. quickly searching my find manual shows examples of the ; syntax.






      share|improve this answer



























        9












        9








        9







        You have to escape the semicolon so that your current shell doesn't see it and use it as a command separator before find gets to see it and use it to terminate the command you're sending to -exec.



        Also, the manual does state in relevant part:




        -exec utility [argument ...] ;



        [...]



        The expression must be terminated by a semi-
        colon (;). If you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise treat it as a
        control operator.




        n. b. quickly searching my find manual shows examples of the ; syntax.






        share|improve this answer















        You have to escape the semicolon so that your current shell doesn't see it and use it as a command separator before find gets to see it and use it to terminate the command you're sending to -exec.



        Also, the manual does state in relevant part:




        -exec utility [argument ...] ;



        [...]



        The expression must be terminated by a semi-
        colon (;). If you invoke find from a shell you may need to quote the semicolon if the shell would otherwise treat it as a
        control operator.




        n. b. quickly searching my find manual shows examples of the ; syntax.







        share|improve this answer














        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer








        edited Jan 4 at 20:22

























        answered Jan 4 at 20:17









        DopeGhotiDopeGhoti

        44.2k55683




        44.2k55683



























            draft saved

            draft discarded
















































            Thanks for contributing an answer to Unix & Linux Stack Exchange!


            • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

            But avoid


            • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

            • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

            To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




            draft saved


            draft discarded














            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2funix.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f492574%2fwhy-should-i-escape-the-semicolon-with-find%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown





















































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown

































            Required, but never shown














            Required, but never shown












            Required, but never shown







            Required, but never shown






            Popular posts from this blog

            How to check contact read email or not when send email to Individual?

            Displaying single band from multi-band raster using QGIS

            How many registers does an x86_64 CPU actually have?