linux man page for type

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

NAME
       type - write a description of command type

SYNOPSIS
       type name...

DESCRIPTION
       The type utility shall indicate how each argument would be interpreted if used as a command name.

OPTIONS
       None.

OPERANDS
       The following operand shall be supported:

       name   A name to be interpreted.

STDIN
       Not used.

INPUT FILES
       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       The following environment variables shall affect the execution of type:

       LANG   Provide  a  default  value  for  the  internationalization  variables  that  are	unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
	      IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables for the  precedence  of  internationalization  variables  used	to
	      determine the values of locale categories.)

       LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other internationalization variables.

       LC_CTYPE
	      Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as opposed to
	      multi-byte characters in arguments).

       LC_MESSAGES
	      Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.

       NLSPATH
	      Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES .

       PATH   Determine the location of name, as described in the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Chapter  8,	Environment  Vari-
	      ables.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
       Default.

STDOUT
       The standard output of type contains information about each operand in an unspecified format. The information provided typically identifies
       the operand as a shell built-in, function, alias, or keyword, and where applicable, may display the operand's pathname.

STDERR
       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES
       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
       None.

EXIT STATUS
       The following exit values shall be returned:

	0     Successful completion.

       >0     An error occurred.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE
       Since type must be aware of the contents of the current shell execution environment (such as the lists of commands, functions,  and  built-
       ins  processed  by  hash),  it is always provided as a shell regular built-in. If it is called in a separate utility execution environment,
       such as one of the following:

	      nohup type writer
	      find . -type f | xargs type
       it might not produce accurate results.

EXAMPLES
       None.

RATIONALE
       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       command , hash

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								   TYPE(P)