Command chaining
It is possible to chain z commands without having to use OS pipes:
# with pipes
echo -n "hashme" | z hash md5 | z length
# with z command chaining
echo -n "hashme" | z hash md5 _ length
Both approaches have the exact same behavior. However, there are some advantages to chaining commands instead of piping:
splitandjoincommands only work with command chaining- Information stays inside z without having to travel to the OS and back. This should only make a difference for very large files or performance-sensitive applications though.
- Only having to type
_instead of| z