file(1) 							   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 regarding  the  file's  execution  requirements.
       This  information  includes  the  machine class, byte-ordering, static or dynamic linkage, and any software or hardware capability require-
       ments.

       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 determined.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -c	       Checks the magic file for format errors. For reasons of efficiency, this validation is normally 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 examined.

       -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 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 concate-
       nation 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).

EXAMPLES

       Example 1: Binary executable files

       Determine if an argument is a binary executable file:

       file "$1" | grep -Fq executable &&
		 printf "%s is executable.
" "$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_MES-
       SAGES, 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 attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWcsu			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |CSI			     |enabled			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Interface Stability	     |Standard			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

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

SunOS 5.10							   16 July 2004 							   file(1)