.\" Copyright (c) 1990 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided
.\" that: (1) source distributions retain this entire copyright notice and
.\" comment, and (2) distributions including binaries display the following
.\" acknowledgement:  ``This product includes software developed by the
.\" University of California, Berkeley and its contributors'' in the
.\" documentation or other materials provided with the distribution and in
.\" all advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software.
.\" Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors may
.\" be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without
.\" specific prior written permission.
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
.\" WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
.\" MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
.\"
.\"     @(#)file.1	6.3 (Berkeley) 7/24/90
.\"
.Dd July 24, 1990
.Dt FILE 1
.Os BSD 4.4
.Sh NAME
.Nm file
.Nd identify file content
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm file
.Ar
.Sh DESCRIPTION
.Nm File
tests the given argument(s) and reports
the content type(s). 
If
the file type is text,
it attempts to determine
the type of text (e.g.
.Xr csh 1
commands or C code)
.Pp
As several tests
are used and
.Nm file
stops testing on the first successful one,
it can make mistakes.
.Pp
.Nm File
does not recognize Pascal or LISP.
.\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm file
command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.