In
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ...
and
Unix-like operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
s,
type is a
command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
...
that describes how its
arguments
An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...
would be interpreted if used as command names.
Function
Where applicable,
type will display the command name's path. Possible command types are:
*
shell built-in
* function
*
alias
*
hashed command
* keyword
The command returns a non-zero
exit status if command names cannot be found.
Examples
$ type test
test is a shell builtin
$ type cp
cp is /bin/cp
$ type unknown
unknown not found
$ type type
type is a shell builtin
History
The
type command was a
shell builtin for
Bourne shell that was introduced in
AT&T's System V Release 2 (SVR2) in 1984, and continues to be included in many other POSIX-compatible shells such as
Bash. However,
type is not part of the
POSIX standard. With a POSIX shell, similar behavior is retrieved with
command -V name
In the
KornShell, the command
whence provides similar functionality.
The command is available as a separate package for
Microsoft Windows as part of the
UnxUtils collection of
native Win32
The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft's core set of application programming interfaces (APIs) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. The name Windows API collectively refers to several different platform implementations t ...
ports
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...
of common
GNU Unix-like utilities.
Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities
/ref>
See also
* List of Unix commands
This is a list of Unix commands as specified by IEEE Std 1003.1-2008, which is part of the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). These commands can be found on Unix operating systems and most Unix-like operating systems.
List
See also
* List of ...
* which (command)
In computing, which is a command for various operating systems used to identify the location of executables. The command is available in Unix and Unix-like systems, the AROS shell, for FreeDOS and for Microsoft Windows. The functionality of t ...
* hash (Unix)
hash is a command on Unix and Unix-like operating systems that prints the location information for the commands found. The command has also been ported to the IBM i operating system.
Syntax
$ hash ame Description
When the user gives a comman ...
References
Standard Unix programs
Unix SUS2008 utilities
IBM i Qshell commands
{{operating-system-stub