Manual Pages for UNIX Operating System command usage for man file

User Commands                                             file(1)



NAME
     file - determine file type

SYNOPSIS
     /usr/bin/file [-dh] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile] [-f ffile] file...


     /usr/bin/file [-dh] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile] -f ffile


     /usr/bin/file -i [-h] [-f ffile] file...


     /usr/bin/file -i [-h] -f ffile


     /usr/bin/file -c [-d] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile]


     /usr/xpg4/bin/file [-dh] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile] [-f ffile] file...


     /usr/xpg4/bin/file [-dh] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile] -f ffile


     /usr/xpg4/bin/file -i [-h] [-f ffile] file...


     /usr/xpg4/bin/file -i [-h] -f ffile


     /usr/xpg4/bin/file -c [-d] [-m mfile] [-M Mfile]


DESCRIPTION
     The file utility performs a series of  tests  on  each  file
     supplied  by  file  and,  optionally, on each file listed in
     ffile in an attempt to classify it. If the  file  is  not  a
     regular  file,  its  file type is identified. The file types
     directory, FIFO, block special, and  character  special  are
     identified  as  such.  If the file is a regular file and the
     file is zero-length, it is identified as an empty file.


     If file appears to be a text file, file examines  the  first
     512  bytes  and tries to determine its programming language.
     If file is a symbolic link, by default the link is  followed
     and file tests the file to which the symbolic link refers.


     If file is  a  relocatable  object,  executable,  or  shared
     object,   file  prints  out  information  about  the  file's



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User Commands                                             file(1)



     execution  requirements.  This  information   includes   the
     machine  class,  byte-ordering,  static/dynamic linkage, and
     any software or hardware capability requirements. If file is
     a  runtime  linking configuration file, file prints informa-
     tion about the target platform, including the machine  class
     and byte-ordering.


     By default, file will try to use the  localized  magic  file
     /usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/magic,  if  it exists, to
     identify files that have a magic number. For example, in the
     Japanese     locale,     file     will     try     to    use
     /usr/lib/locale/ja/LC_MESSAGES/magic. If a  localized  magic
     file  does  not exist, file will utilize /etc/magic. A magic
     number is a numeric or string constant  that  indicates  the
     file  type. See magic(4) for an explanation of the format of
     /etc/magic.


     If file does not exist, cannot be read, or its  file  status
     could  not be determined, it is not considered an error that
     affects the exit status. The output will indicate  that  the
     file  was  processed,  but that its type could not be deter-
     mined.

OPTIONS
     The following options are supported:

     -c          Checks the magic file  for  format  errors.  For
                 reasons  of  efficiency, this validation is nor-
                 mally not carried out.


     -d          Applies  any  position-sensitive  and   context-
                 sensitive default system tests to the file.


     -f ffile    ffile contains a list of the files to  be  exam-
                 ined.


     -h          When a symbolic link is encountered, this option
                 identifies the file as a symbolic link. If -h is
                 not specified and file is a symbolic  link  that
                 refers  to a non-existent file, the file utility
                 identifies the file as a symbolic link, as if -h
                 had been specified.


     -i          If a file is a regular file,  this  option  does
                 not   attempt  to  classify  the  type  of  file
                 further, but identifies the file as  a  "regular



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User Commands                                             file(1)



                 file".


     -m mfile
                 /usr/bin/file         Uses mfile as an alternate
                                       magic   file,  instead  of
                                       /etc/magic.


                 /usr/xpg4/bin/file    Specifies the  name  of  a
                                       file  containing position-
                                       sensitive tests  that  are
                                       applied to a file in order
                                       to   classify   it    (see
                                       magic(4)).   If   the   -m
                                       option    is     specified
                                       without  specifying the -d
                                       option or the  -M  option,
                                       position-sensitive default
                                       system tests  are  applied
                                       after     the    position-
                                       sensitive tests  specified
                                       by the -m option.



     -M Mfile    Specifies  the  name  of   a   file   containing
                 position-sensitive  tests  that are applied to a
                 file in order to classify it (see magic(4)).  No
                 position-sensitive   default  system  tests  nor
                 context-sensitive  default  system   tests   are
                 applied unless the -d option is also specified.



     If the -M option is specified with the  -d  option,  the  -m
     option,  or  both, or if the -m option is specified with the
     -d option, the concatenation of the position-sensitive tests
     specified by these options is applied in the order specified
     by the appearance of these options.

OPERANDS
     The following operands are supported:

     file    A path name of a file to be tested.


USAGE
     See largefile(5) for the description of the behavior of file
     when  encountering  files greater than or equal to 2 Gbyte (
     2^31 bytes).




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User Commands                                             file(1)



EXAMPLES
     Example 1 Determining if an Argument is a Binary  Executable
     Files


     The following example determine if an argument is  a  binary
     executable file:


       file "$1" | grep -Fq executable &&
                 printf "%s is executable.0 "$1"



ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
     See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
     variables  that  affect the execution of file: LANG, LC_ALL,
     LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS
     The following exit values are returned:

     0     Successful completion.


     >0    An error occurred.


FILES
     /etc/magic    file's magic number file


ATTRIBUTES
     See attributes(5) for descriptions of the  following  attri-
     butes:




















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User Commands                                             file(1)



     ____________________________________________________________
    |       ATTRIBUTE TYPE        |       ATTRIBUTE VALUE       |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Availability                | SUNWcs                      |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | CSI                         | Enabled                     |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Interface Stability         | Committed                   |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|
    | Standard                    | See standards(5).           |
    |_____________________________|_____________________________|


SEE ALSO
     crle(1),   elfdump(1),   ls(1),   magic(4),   attributes(5),
     environ(5), largefile(5), standards(5)







































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