file(1)                    DG/UX 4.30                     file(1)



     NAME
          file - determine file type

     SYNOPSIS
          file [ -c ] [ -f ffile ] [ -m mfile ] arg ...

     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
          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.

          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 constant that indicates its type.
          Commentary at the beginning of /etc/magic explains its
          format.

          The -m option instructs file to use an alternate magic file.

          The -c flag causes file to check the magic file for format
          errors.  This validation is not normally carried out for
          reasons of efficiency.  No file typing is done under -c.

     EXAMPLES
          $ file file1
          file1:         commands text

          Since file1 contains DG/UX shell commands (i.e. it is a
          script file), the file command gives the type as "commands
          text".

          $ file -f filenames
          file1:         commands text
          file2:         ascii text
          file3:         c program text
          file4:         DG pure executable

          The file filenames contained the names of four files.

     SEE ALSO
          ld(1).








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