[X4U] command line cp question

[Stroller]

On Dec 2, 2005, at 9:34 am, Kansas Territory wrote:
>
> find / -name "*.pl" -exec cp \{} perlscripts/
>
> i tried running this from the command line...  I get:
>
> find: missing argument to `-exec'
>
> I'm trying to run this from a command line.. on  a Linux box if that 
> makes any difference ?

You forgot the semicolon, which is a terminator:

        -exec command ;
               Execute  command; ...All following
               arguments to find are taken to be arguments to the 
command until
               an  argument  consisting of `;' is encountered.  The 
string `{}'
               is replaced by the current file name being processed  
everywhere
               it occurs in the arguments to the command, ...  Both  of  
these
               constructions might need to be escaped (with a `\') or 
quoted to
               protect them from expansion by the shell.  The command  
is  exe-
               cuted in the starting directory.

`man find` is your friend.

As Mr Ledger mentioned, don't forget to exclude the backup directory.

Stroller.