NAME

       type - write a description of command type

SYNOPSIS

       type name...

DESCRIPTION

       The  type  utility  shall  indicate  how  each  argument would be interpreted if used as a
       command name.

OPTIONS

       None.

OPERANDS

       The following operand shall be supported:

       name   A name to be interpreted.

STDIN

       Not used.

INPUT FILES

       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       The following environment variables shall affect the execution of type:

       LANG   Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that  are  unset  or
              null.  (See  the  Base  Definitions  volume  of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2,
              Internationalization Variables for the precedence of internationalization variables
              used to determine the values of locale categories.)

       LC_ALL If  set  to  a  non-empty  string  value,  override  the  values  of  all the other
              internationalization variables.

       LC_CTYPE
              Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text  data  as
              characters  (for  example,  single-byte  as  opposed  to  multi-byte  characters in
              arguments).

       LC_MESSAGES
              Determine the locale that should be used to  affect  the  format  and  contents  of
              diagnostic messages written to standard error.

       NLSPATH
              Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES .

       PATH   Determine  the  location  of  name,  as described in the Base Definitions volume of
              IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Chapter 8, Environment Variables.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

       Default.

STDOUT

       The standard output of type contains information about  each  operand  in  an  unspecified
       format.  The  information  provided  typically identifies the operand as a shell built-in,
       function, alias, or keyword, and where applicable, may display the operand's pathname.

STDERR

       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES

       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

       None.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values shall be returned:

        0     Successful completion.

       >0     An error occurred.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       Since type must be aware of the contents of the current shell execution environment  (such
       as  the  lists  of  commands,  functions,  and  built-ins processed by hash), it is always
       provided as a shell regular built-in. If it is called  in  a  separate  utility  execution
       environment, such as one of the following:

              nohup type writer
              find . -type f | xargs type
       it might not produce accurate results.

EXAMPLES

       None.

RATIONALE

       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       command , hash

COPYRIGHT

       Portions  of  this  text  are  reprinted  and  reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std
       1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology  --  Portable  Operating  System
       Interface  (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by
       the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and  The  Open  Group.  In  the
       event  of  any  discrepancy  between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group
       Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard  is  the  referee  document.  The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .