NAME

file − determine file type

SYNOPSIS

file [−f] file ...

DESCRIPTION

File performs a series of tests on each argument in an attempt to classify it.  If an argument appears to be ASCII, file examines the first 512 bytes and tries to guess its language.  If an argument is an executable a.out, file will print the version stamp, provided it is greater than 0 (see the description of the −V option in ld(1)).

If the −f option is given, the next argument is taken to be a file containing the names of the files to be examined. 

May 16, 1980