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`FILE(1)
`
`
`
`FreeBSD General Commands Manual
`
` FILE(1)
`
`NAME
` file ‐ determine file type
`
`SYNOPSIS
` file [‐bciknsvzL] [‐f namefile] [‐m magicfiles] file ...
`
`DESCRIPTION
` This manual page documents version 3.33 of the file command. File tests
` each argument in an attempt to classify it. There are three sets of
` tests, performed in this order: filesystem tests, magic number tests, and
` language tests. The first test that succeeds causes the file type to be
` printed.
`
` The type printed will usually contain one of the words text (the file
` contains only printing characters and a few common control characters and
` is probably safe to read on an ASCII terminal), executable (the file con
` tains the result of compiling a program in a form understandable to some
` UNIX kernel or another), or data meaning anything else (data is usually
` `binary' or non‐printable). Exceptions are well‐known file formats (core
` files, tar archives) that are known to contain binary data. When modify
` ing the file /usr/share/misc/magic or the program itself, preserve these
` keywords. People depend on knowing that all the readable files in a
` directory have the word ``text'' printed. Don't do as Berkeley did and
` change ``shell commands text'' to ``shell script''. Note that the file
` /usr/share/misc/magic is built mechanically from a large number of small
` files in the subdirectory Magdir in the source distribution of this pro
` gram.
`
` The filesystem tests are based on examining the return from a stat(2)
` system call. The program checks to see if the file is empty, or if it's
` some sort of special file. Any known file types appropriate to the sys
` tem you are running on (sockets, symbolic links, or named pipes (FIFOs)
` on those systems that implement them) are intuited if they are defined in
` the system header file <sys/stat.h>.
`
` The magic number tests are used to check for files with data in particu
` lar fixed formats. The canonical example of this is a binary executable
` (compiled program) a.out file, whose format is defined in a.out.h and
` possibly exec.h in the standard include directory. These files have a
` `magic number' stored in a particular place near the beginning of the
` file that tells the UNIX operating system that the file is a binary exe
`
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` cutable, and which of several types thereof. The concept of `magic
` number' has been applied by extension to data files. Any file with some
` invariant identifier at a small fixed offset into the file can usually be
` described in this way. The information identifying these files is read
` from the magic file /usr/share/misc/magic.
`
` If a file does not match any of the entries in the magic file, it is
` examined to see if it seems to be a text file. ASCII, ISO‐8859‐x, non‐
` ISO 8‐bit extended‐ASCII character sets (such as those used on Macintosh
` and IBM PC systems), UTF‐8‐encoded Unicode, UTF‐16‐encoded Unicode, and
` EBCDIC character sets can be distinguished by the different ranges and
` sequences of bytes that constitute printable text in each set. If a file
` passes any of these tests, its character set is reported. ASCII,
` ISO‐8859‐x, UTF‐8, and extended‐ASCII files are identified as ``text''
` because they will be mostly readable on nearly any terminal; UTF‐16 and
` EBCDIC are only ``character data'' because, while they contain text, it
` is text that will require translation before it can be read. In addi
` tion, file will attempt to determine other characteristics of text‐type
` files. If the lines of a file are terminated by CR, CRLF, or NEL,
` instead of the Unix‐standard LF, this will be reported. Files that con
` tain embedded escape sequences or overstriking will also be identified.
`
` Once file has determined the character set used in a text‐type file, it
` will attempt to determine in what language the file is written. The lan
` guage tests look for particular strings (cf names.h) that can appear any
` where in the first few blocks of a file. For example, the keyword .br
` indicates that the file is most likely a troff(1) input file, just as the
` keyword struct indicates a C program. These tests are less reliable than
` the previous two groups, so they are performed last. The language test
` routines also test for some miscellany (such as tar(1) archives).
`
` Any file that cannot be identified as having been written in any of the
` character sets listed above is simply said to be ``data''.
`
`OPTIONS
` ‐b Do not prepend filenames to output lines (brief mode).
`
` ‐c Cause a checking printout of the parsed form of the magic file.
`
` This is usually used in conjunction with ‐m to debug a new magic
`
` file before installing it.
`
` ‐f namefile
`
` Read the names of the files to be examined from namefile (one per
`
` line) before the argument list. Either namefile or at least one
`
` filename argument must be present; to test the standard input,
`
` use ``‐'' as a filename argument.
`
` ‐i Causes the file command to output mime type strings rather than
`
` the more traditional human readable ones. Thus it may say
`
` ``text/plain; charset=us‐ascii'' rather than ``ASCII text''. In
`
` order for this option to work, file changes the way it handles
`
` files recognised by the command itself (such as many of the text
`
` file types, directories etc), and makes use of an alternative
`
` ``magic'' file. (See FILES section, below).
`
` ‐k Don't stop at the first match, keep going.
`
` ‐m list
`
` Specify an alternate list of files containing magic numbers.
`
` This can be a single file, or a colon‐separated list of files.
`
` ‐n Force stdout to be flushed after checking each file. This is
`
` only useful if checking a list of files. It is intended to be
`
` used by programs that want filetype output from a pipe.
`
` ‐s Normally, file only attempts to read and determine the type of
`
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` ‐s Normally, file only attempts to read and determine the type of
`
` argument files which stat(2) reports are ordinary files. This
`
` prevents problems, because reading special files may have pecu
`
` liar consequences. Specifying the ‐s option causes file to also
`
` read argument files which are block or character special files.
`
` This is useful for determining the filesystem types of the data
`
` in raw disk partitions, which are block special files. This
`
` option also causes file to disregard the file size as reported by
`
` stat(2) since on some systems it reports a zero size for raw disk
`
` partitions.
`
` ‐v Print the version of the program and exit.
`
` ‐z Try to look inside compressed files.
`
` ‐L Cause symlinks to be followed, as the like‐named option in ls(1).
`
` (on systems that support symbolic links).
`
`FILES
` default list of magic numbers
` /usr/share/misc/magic
` /usr/share/misc/magic.mime default list of magic numbers, used to output
`
`
`
`
` mime types when the ‐i option is specified.
`
`ENVIRONMENT
` The environment variable MAGIC can be used to set the default magic num
` ber files.
`
`SEE ALSO
` od(1), strings(1), magic(5)
`
`STANDARDS CONFORMANCE
` This program is believed to exceed the System V Interface Definition of
` FILE(CMD), as near as one can determine from the vague language contained
` therein. Its behaviour is mostly compatible with the System V program of
` the same name. This version knows more magic, however, so it will pro
` duce different (albeit more accurate) output in many cases.
`
` The one significant difference between this version and System V is that
` this version treats any white space as a delimiter, so that spaces in
` pattern strings must be escaped. For example,
` >10 string language impress (imPRESS data)
` in an existing magic file would have to be changed to
` >10 string language\ impress (imPRESS data)
`
` In addition, in this version, if a pattern string contains a backslash,
` it must be escaped. For example
` 0 string
` \begindata Andrew Toolkit document
` in an existing magic file would have to be changed to
` 0 string
` \\begindata Andrew Toolkit document
`
` SunOS releases 3.2 and later from Sun Microsystems include a file(1) com
` mand derived from the System V one, but with some extensions. My version
` differs from Sun's only in minor ways. It includes the extension of the
` `&' operator, used as, for example,
` >16 long&0x7fffffff >0
` not stripped
`
`MAGIC DIRECTORY
` The magic file entries have been collected from various sources, mainly
` USENET, and contributed by various authors. Christos Zoulas (address
` below) will collect additional or corrected magic file entries. A con
` solidation of magic file entries will be distributed periodically.
`
` The order of entries in the magic file is significant. Depending on what
` system you are using, the order that they are put together may be incor
` rect. If your old file command uses a magic file, keep the old magic
` file around for comparison purposes (rename it to
`
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`
` file around for comparison purposes (rename it to
` /usr/share/misc/magic.orig).
`
`EXAMPLES
` $ file file.c file /dev/hda
` file.c: C program text
` file: ELF 32‐bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1,
`
` dynamically linked, not stripped
` /dev/hda: block special
`
` $ file ‐s /dev/hda{,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}
` /dev/hda: x86 boot sector
` /dev/hda1: Linux/i386 ext2 filesystem
` /dev/hda2: x86 boot sector
` /dev/hda3: x86 boot sector, extended partition table
` /dev/hda4: Linux/i386 ext2 filesystem
` /dev/hda5: Linux/i386 swap file
` /dev/hda6: Linux/i386 swap file
` /dev/hda7: Linux/i386 swap file
` /dev/hda8: Linux/i386 swap file
` /dev/hda9: empty
` /dev/hda10: empty
`
` $ file ‐i file.c file /dev/hda
` file.c:
` text/x‐c
` file:
` application/x‐executable, dynamically linked (uses shared libs), not stripped
` /dev/hda: application/x‐not‐regular‐file
`
`HISTORY
` There has been a file command in every UNIX since at least Research Ver
` sion 6 (man page dated January, 1975). The System V version introduced
` one significant major change: the external list of magic number types.
` This slowed the program down slightly but made it a lot more flexible.
`
` This program, based on the System V version, was written by Ian Darwin
` <ian@darwinsys.com> without looking at anybody else's source code.
`
` John Gilmore revised the code extensively, making it better than the
` first version. Geoff Collyer found several inadequacies and provided
` some magic file entries. Contributions by the `&' operator by Rob
` McMahon <cudcv@warwick.ac.uk>, 1989.
`
` Guy Harris <guy@netapp.com>, made many changes from 1993 to the present.
`
` Primary development and maintenance from 1990 to the present by Christos
` Zoulas <christos@astron.com>.
`
` Altered by Chris Lowth <chris@lowth.com>, 2000: Handle the ‐i option to
` output mime type strings and using an alternative magic file and internal
` logic.
`
` Altered by Eric Fischer <enf@pobox.com>, July, 2000, to identify charac
` ter codes and attempt to identify the languages of non‐ASCII files.
`
` The list of contributors to the Magdir directory (source for the
` /usr/share/misc/magic file) is too long to include here. You know who
` you are; thank you.
`
`LEGAL NOTICE
` Copyright (c) Ian F. Darwin, Toronto, Canada, 1986‐1999. Covered by the
` standard Berkeley Software Distribution copyright; see the file
` LEGAL.NOTICE in the source distribution.
`
` The files tar.h and is_tar.c were written by John Gilmore from his pub
` lic‐domain tar program, and are not covered by the above license.
`
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`
`
`BUGS
` There must be a better way to automate the construction of the Magic file
` from all the glop in Magdir. What is it? Better yet, the magic file
` should be compiled into binary (say, ndbm(3) or, better yet, fixed‐length
` ASCII strings for use in heterogenous network environments) for faster
` startup. Then the program would run as fast as the Version 7 program of
` the same name, with the flexibility of the System V version.
`
` File uses several algorithms that favor speed over accuracy, thus it can
` be misled about the contents of text files.
`
` The support for text files (primarily for programming languages) is sim
` plistic, inefficient and requires recompilation to update.
`
` There should be an ``else'' clause to follow a series of continuation
` lines.
`
` The magic file and keywords should have regular expression support.
` Their use of ASCII TAB as a field delimiter is ugly and makes it hard to
` edit the files, but is entrenched.
`
` It might be advisable to allow upper‐case letters in keywords for e.g.,
` troff(1) commands vs man page macros. Regular expression support would
` make this easy.
`
` The program doesn't grok FORTRAN. It should be able to figure FORTRAN by
` seeing some keywords which appear indented at the start of line. Regular
` expression support would make this easy.
`
` The list of keywords in ascmagic probably belongs in the Magic file.
` This could be done by using some keyword like `*' for the offset value.
`
` Another optimisation would be to sort the magic file so that we can just
` run down all the tests for the first byte, first word, first long, etc,
` once we have fetched it. Complain about conflicts in the magic file
` entries. Make a rule that the magic entries sort based on file offset
` rather than position within the magic file?
`
` The program should provide a way to give an estimate of ``how good'' a
` guess is. We end up removing guesses (e.g. ``From'' as first 5 chars of
` file) because they are not as good as other guesses (e.g.
` ``Newsgroups:'' versus ``Return‐Path:''). Still, if the others don't pan
` out, it should be possible to use the first guess.
`
` This program is slower than some vendors' file commands. The new support
` for multiple character codes makes it even slower.
`
` This manual page, and particularly this section, is too long.
`
`AVAILABILITY
` You can obtain the original author's latest version by anonymous FTP on
` ftp.astron.com in the directory /pub/file/file‐X.YY.tar.gz
`
`FreeBSD 4.3
`
`
`
` December 8, 2000
`
`
`
` FreeBSD 4.3
`
`NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | FILES | ENVIRONMENT | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS
`CONFORMANCE | MAGIC DIRECTORY | EXAMPLES | HISTORY | LEGAL NOTICE | BUGS |
`AVAILABILITY
`
`Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
`<https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=file&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+4.3RELEASE>
`
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`
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