man6/file.6

.th FILE VI 8/27/77
.sh NAME
file \- determine file type
.sh SYNOPSIS
.bd file
file ...
.sh DESCRIPTION
.it File
performs a series of tests on each argument
in an attempt to classify it.
If an argument appears to be \s-2ASCII\s0,
.it file
examines the first 512 bytes
and tries to guess its language.
.s3
Classification currently known to
.it file
are:
.s3
.dt
.br
        directory
.br
        ( character | block ) special file
.br
        quota file
.br
        [ pure | separate ] executable [ not stripped ]
.br
        pascal object
.br
        [ old ] archive
.s3
The following text file classifications may indicate
``with garbage'' if there are non-\s-2ASCII\s0 characters
in the file.
.s3
        ( c | fortran | pascal | assembler ) program
.br
        roff, nroff, or eqn input
.br
        commands
.br
        data
.br
        probably text
.sh SEE\ ALSO
head (VI)
.sh BUGS