In
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user 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, a ...
and
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
s,
type is a
command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* command (Unix), a Unix command
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on A ...
that describes how its
arguments
An argument is a series of sentences, statements, or propositions some of which are called premises and one is the conclusion. The purpose of an argument is to give reasons for one's conclusion via justification, explanation, and/or persua ...
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
In computing, the exit status (also exit code or exit value) of a terminated process is an integer number that is made available to its parent process (or caller). In DOS, this may be referred to as an errorlevel.
When computer programs ar ...
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
In computing, a shell builtin is a Command (computing), command or a Subroutine, function, exposed by a Shell (computing), shell, that is implemented in the shell itself, instead of an external computer program, program which the shell would load a ...
for
Bourne shell
The Bourne shell (sh) is a shell command-line interpreter for computer operating systems. It first appeared on Version 7 Unix, as its default shell. Unix-like systems continue to have /bin/sh—which will be the Bourne shell, or a symbolic lin ...
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
KornShell (ksh) is a Unix shell which was developed by David Korn (computer scientist), David Korn at Bell Labs in the early 1980s and announced at USENIX Annual Technical Conference, USENIX on July 14, 1983. The initial development was base ...
, the command
whence provides similar functionality.
The command is available as a separate package for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
as part of the
UnxUtils
UnxUtils is a collection of utility programs that provide popular Unix-based shell commands ported from GNU implementations as native Windows programs that depend only on Win32 and the Microsoft C- runtime ( msvcrt.dll). The collection wa ...
collection of
native
Native may refer to:
People
* '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood
* '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Nat ...
Win32
The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is the foundational application programming interface (API) that allows a computer program to access the features of the Microsoft Windows operating system in which the program is running. Programs can acces ...
ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...
of common
GNU
GNU ( ) is an extensive collection of free software (394 packages ), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operating systems popu ...
Unix-like utilities.
Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities
/ref>
See also
* List of Unix commands
This is a list of the shell commands of the most recent version of the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) IEEE Std 1003.1-2024 which is part of the Single UNIX Specification (SUS). These commands are implemented in many shells on moder ...
* 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)
References
Standard Unix programs
Unix SUS2008 utilities
IBM i Qshell commands
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