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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 iden‐
       tified. 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 regarding	 the  file's  execution	 requirements.
       This  information  includes the machine class, byte-ordering, static or
       dynamic linkage, and any software or hardware capability requirements.

       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 local‐
       ized 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	 iden‐
		       tifies the file as a symbolic link. If -h is not speci‐
		       fied 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 iden‐
		       tifies 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-sensi‐
		       tive tests that are applied to a file in order to clas‐
		       sify  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: Binary executable files

       Determine if an argument is a binary executable file:

       file "$1" | grep −Fq executable &&
		 printf "%s is executable.\n" "$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_MESSAGES,
       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
       elfdump(1),  ls(1),  magic(4), attributes(5), environ(5), largefile(5),
       standards(5)

SunOS 5.10			 16 July 2004			       file(1)
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