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 about the file's  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 information 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 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 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_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

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

SunOS 5.11							    15 May 2006 							   file(1)