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