1 '\" te
   2 .\" Copyright (c) 1992, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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   4 .\" You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing.  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
   5 .\" When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE.  If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
   6 .TH FILE 1B "Sep 14, 1992"
   7 .SH NAME
   8 file \- determine the type of a file by examining its contents
   9 .SH SYNOPSIS
  10 .LP
  11 .nf
  12 \fB/usr/ucb/file\fR [\fB-f\fR \fIffile\fR] [\fB-cL\fR] [\fB-m\fR \fImfile\fR] \fIfilename\fR...
  13 .fi
  14 
  15 .SH DESCRIPTION
  16 .sp
  17 .LP
  18 \fBfile\fR performs a series of tests on each  \fIfilename\fR in an attempt to
  19 determine what it contains. If the contents of a file appear to be  \fBASCII\fR
  20 text, \fBfile\fR examines the first 512 bytes and tries to guess its language.
  21 .sp
  22 .LP
  23 \fBfile\fR uses the file \fB/etc/magic\fR to identify files that have some sort
  24 of \fImagic number\fR, that is, any file containing a numeric or string
  25 constant that indicates its type.
  26 .SH OPTIONS
  27 .sp
  28 .ne 2
  29 .na
  30 \fB\fB-c\fR\fR
  31 .ad
  32 .RS 12n
  33 Check for format errors in the magic number file. For reasons of efficiency,
  34 this validation is not normally carried out. No file type-checking is done
  35 under \fB-c\fR.
  36 .RE
  37 
  38 .sp
  39 .ne 2
  40 .na
  41 \fB\fB-f\fR \fIffile\fR\fR
  42 .ad
  43 .RS 12n
  44 Get a list of filenames to identify from  \fIffile.\fR
  45 .RE
  46 
  47 .sp
  48 .ne 2
  49 .na
  50 \fB\fB-L\fR\fR
  51 .ad
  52 .RS 12n
  53 If a file is a symbolic link, test the file the link references rather than the
  54 link itself.
  55 .RE
  56 
  57 .sp
  58 .ne 2
  59 .na
  60 \fB\fB-m\fR\fI mfile\fR\fR
  61 .ad
  62 .RS 12n
  63 Use \fImfile\fR as the name of an alternate magic number file.
  64 .RE
  65 
  66 .SH EXAMPLES
  67 .LP
  68 \fBExample 1 \fRUsing \fBfile\fR on all the files in a specific user's
  69 directory.
  70 .sp
  71 .LP
  72 This example illustrates the use of \fBfile\fR on all the files in a specific
  73 user's directory:
  74 
  75 .sp
  76 .in +2
  77 .nf
  78 example% \fBpwd
  79 /usr/blort/misc\fR
  80 .fi
  81 .in -2
  82 .sp
  83 
  84 .sp
  85 .in +2
  86 .nf
  87 example% \fB/usr/ucb/file  *\fR
  88 
  89 code:           mc68020 demand paged executable
  90 code.c:         c program text
  91 counts:         ascii text
  92 doc:            roff,nroff, or eqn input text
  93 empty.file:     empty
  94 libz:           archive random library
  95 memos:          directory
  96 project:        symboliclink to /usr/project
  97 script:         executable shell script
  98 titles:         ascii text
  99 s5.stuff:       cpio archive
 100 
 101 
 102 example%
 103 .fi
 104 .in -2
 105 .sp
 106 
 107 .SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
 108 .sp
 109 .LP
 110 The environment variables \fBLC_CTYPE\fR, \fBLANG\fR, and \fBLC_default\fR
 111 control the character classification throughout \fBfile\fR. On entry to
 112 \fBfile\fR, these environment variables are checked in the following order:
 113 \fBLC_CTYPE\fR, \fBLANG\fR, and \fBLC_default\fR. When a valid value is found,
 114 remaining environment variables for character classification are ignored. For
 115 example, a new setting for \fBLANG\fR does not override the current valid
 116 character classification rules of \fBLC_CTYPE\fR. When none of the values is
 117 valid, the shell character classification defaults to the   POSIX.1 "C"
 118 locale.
 119 .SH FILES
 120 .sp
 121 .LP
 122 \fB/etc/magic\fR
 123 .SH SEE ALSO
 124 .sp
 125 .LP
 126 \fBmagic\fR(4), \fBattributes\fR(5)
 127 .SH BUGS
 128 .sp
 129 .LP
 130 \fBfile\fR often makes mistakes.  In particular, it often suggests that command
 131 files are C programs.
 132 .sp
 133 .LP
 134 \fBfile\fR does not recognize Pascal or  LISP.