Original author(s) | AT&T Corporation |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Various open-source and commercial developers |
Initial release | 1984 |
Operating system | Unix and Unix-like |
Platform | Cross-platform |
Type | Command |
In
Unix and
Unix-like
operating systems, type
is a
command that describes how its
arguments would be interpreted if used as command names.
Where applicable, type
will display the command name's path. Possible command types are:
The command returns a non-zero exit status if command names cannot be found.
$ 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
The type
command was a
shell builtin for
Bourne shell that was introduced in
AT&T's System V Release 2 (SVR2) in 1984,
[1] 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.
[2]
The command is available as a separate package for Microsoft Windows as part of the UnxUtils collection of native Win32 ports of common GNU Unix-like utilities. [3]
whence [...] Korn shell only. Show whether each command is a Unix command, a built-in command, a defined shell function, or an alias.