RETURN(1P)						     POSIX Programmer's Manual							RETURN(1P)

PROLOG

       This  manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the correspond-
       ing Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

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(1P)