file:tldr:72f73
file: Give a description of the type of the specified file. Works fine for files with no file extension.
$ file ${filename}
try on your machine
The command "file ${filename}" is used to determine the type or format of a file in a Unix or Linux system.
Here's how it works:
- The variable ${filename} is a placeholder that needs to be replaced with the actual name of the file you want to check.
- When you run this command, the system checks the specified file and identifies its type by examining the file's content or metadata.
- The output of this command specifies the type of file, which can be things like a text file, binary file, symbolic link, directory, compressed file, etc.
- This command can be helpful in scenarios where you want to analyze or categorize files based on their type or to verify whether a certain file is what you expect it to be.
For example, if you have a file named "example.txt" and you run "file example.txt", the command will return something like "example.txt: ASCII text" if it determines that the file is a plain text file encoded in ASCII.
This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and
never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.