exec

Shell Programming and Scripting
1

In exec function say when i would like to remove the files

exec rm{}\;

Why is this "\" needed immediately after {} and what if i dont give it?

TIA,
Nisha

2

The "\" character escapes the ";" character so it is not interpreted by the shell. The "{}" characters in the find statement followed by a ";" is simply passing every file/directory matched by the find command to the exec statement.

A find command which contains an exec statement needs to be terminated by a ";" character to allow all files/directories matched by the find command to be sequentially actioned upon by the exec statement.

It is syntax explained in the man page.