How to use Type Command in Linux
The type
command is used to display information about the command type. It will show you how a given command would be interpreted if typed on the command line.
In this article, we will explain how to use the Linux type
command.
How to Use the type Command
type
is a shell builtin in Bash and other shells like Zsh and Ksh. Its behavior may be slightly different from shell to shell. We will cover the Bash builtin version of type
.
The syntax for the type
command is as follows:
$ type [OPTIONS] FILE_NAME...
For example, to find the type of the wc
command , you would type the following:
$ type wc
The output will be something like this:
wc is /usr/bin/wc
You can also provide more than one arguments to the type
command:
$ type sleep head
The output will include information about both sleep
and head
commands:
OUTPUT
sleep is /bin/sleep
head is /usr/bin/head
Command Types
The option -t
tells type
to print a single word describing the type of the command which can be one of the following:
- alias (shell alias)
- function (shell function)
- builtin (shell builtin)
- file (disk file)
- keyword (shell reserved word)
Here are a few examples:
Alias
$ type -t grep
In my system grep
is aliased to grep --color=auto
:
OUTPUT
alias
Function
$ type -t rvm
rvm
is a tool (function) for installing, managing, and working with multiple Ruby environments:
OUTPUT
function
Builtin
$ type -t echo
echo
is a shell builtin in Bash and other shells like Zsh and Ksh:
OUTPUT
builtin
File
$ type -t cut
cut
is an executable file :
OUTPUT
builtin
Keyword
$ type -t for
for
is a reserved word in Bash:
OUTPUT
keyword
Display all locations that contain the command
To print all matches, use the -a
option:
$ type -a pwd
The output will show you that pwd
is a shell builtin but it is also available as a standalone /bin/pwd
executable:
OUTPUT
pwd is a shell builtin
pwd is /bin/pwd
When -a
option is used, the type command will include aliases and functions, only if the -p
option is not used.
Other type command options
The -p
option will force type
to return the path to the command only if the command is an executable file on the disk:
For example, the following command will not display any output because the pwd
command is a shell builtin.
$ type -p pwd
Unlike -p
, the uppercase -P
option tells type
to search the PATH
for an executable file on the disk even if the command is not file.
$ type -P pwd
OUTPUT
pwd is /bin/pwd
When the -f
option is used, type
will not look up for shell functions, as with the command builtin.
Conclusion
The type
command will show you how a specific command will be interpreted if used on the command line.
If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment below.
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