RETURN(P)						     POSIX Programmer's Manual							 RETURN(P)

NAME

       return - return from a function

SYNOPSIS

       return [n]

DESCRIPTION

       The  return  utility  shall cause the shell to stop executing the current function or dot script. If the shell is not currently executing a
       function or dot script, the results are unspecified.

OPTIONS

       None.

OPERANDS

       See the DESCRIPTION.

STDIN

       Not used.

INPUT FILES

       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       None.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

       Default.

STDOUT

       Not used.

STDERR

       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES

       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

       None.

EXIT STATUS

       The value of the special parameter '?' shall be set to n, an unsigned decimal integer, or to the exit status of the last  command  executed
       if  n  is  not  specified. If the value of n is greater than 255, the results are undefined.  When return is executed in a trap action, the
       last command is considered to be the command that executed immediately preceding the trap action.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

EXAMPLES

       None.

RATIONALE

       The behavior of return when not in a function or dot script differs between the System V shell and the KornShell. In  the  System  V  shell
       this is an error, whereas in the KornShell, the effect is the same as exit.

       The  results of returning a number greater than 255 are undefined because of differing practices in the various historical implementations.
       Some shells AND out all but the low-order 8 bits; others allow larger values, but not of unlimited size.

       See the discussion of appropriate exit status values under exit .

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       Special Built-In Utilities

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol-
       ogy -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and  the  original  IEEE
       and  The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained
       online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE
/The Open Group						       2003								 RETURN(P)