opensolaris man page for file

file(1B)					     SunOS/BSD Compatibility Package Commands						  file(1B)

NAME
       file - determine the type of a file by examining its contents

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/ucb/file [-f ffile] [-cL] [-m mfile] filename...

DESCRIPTION
       file  performs  a  series  of  tests  on each  filename in an attempt to determine what it contains. If the contents of a file appear to be
       ASCII text, file examines the first 512 bytes and tries to guess its language.

       file uses the file /etc/magic to identify files that have some sort of magic number, that is, any file containing a numeric or string  con-
       stant that indicates its type.

OPTIONS
       -c	   Check  for  format  errors in the magic number file. For reasons of efficiency, this validation is not normally carried out. No
		   file type-checking is done under -c.

       -f ffile    Get a list of filenames to identify from  ffile.

       -L	   If a file is a symbolic link, test the file the link references rather than the link itself.

       -m mfile    Use mfile as the name of an alternate magic number file.

EXAMPLES
       Example 1 Using file on all the files in a specific user's directory.

       This example illustrates the use of file on all the files in a specific user's directory:

	 example% pwd
	 /usr/blort/misc

	 example% /usr/ucb/file  *

	 code:		 mc68020 demand paged executable
	 code.c:	 c program text
	 counts:	 ascii text
	 doc:		 roff,nroff, or eqn input text
	 empty.file:	 empty
	 libz:		 archive random library
	 memos: 	 directory
	 project:	 symboliclink to /usr/project
	 script:	 executable shell script
	 titles:	 ascii text
	 s5.stuff:	 cpio archive

	 example%

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       The environment variables LC_CTYPE, LANG, and LC_default control the character classification throughout file.  On  entry  to  file,  these
       environment  variables  are checked in the following order: LC_CTYPE, LANG, and LC_default. When a valid value is found, remaining environ-
       ment variables for character classification are ignored. For example, a new setting for LANG does not override the current valid  character
       classification  rules  of  LC_CTYPE.  When  none  of  the values is valid, the shell character classification defaults to the   POSIX.1 "C"
       locale.

FILES
       /etc/magic

ATTRIBUTES
       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWscpu			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO
       magic(4), attributes(5)

BUGS
       file often makes mistakes.  In particular, it often suggests that command files are C programs.

       file does not recognize Pascal or  LISP.

SunOS 5.11							    14 Sep 1992 							  file(1B)