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True if the file is of type c:
b
- block (buffered) special
c
- character (unbuffered) special
d
- directory
p
- named pipe (FIFO)
f
- regular file
l
- symbolic link; if ‘-L’ is in effect, this is true only for broken symbolic links. If you want to search for symbolic links when ‘-L’ is in effect, use ‘-xtype’ instead of ‘-type’.
s
- socket
D
- door (Solaris)
This test behaves the same as ‘-type’ unless the file is a symbolic link. If the file is a symbolic link, the result is as follows (in the table below, ‘X’ should be understood to represent any letter except ‘l’):
- ‘‘-P -xtype l’’
- True if the symbolic link is broken
- ‘‘-P -xtype X’’
- True if the (ultimate) target file is of type ‘X’.
- ‘‘-L -xtype l’’
- Always true
- ‘‘-L -xtype X’’
- False unless the symbolic link is broken
In other words, for symbolic links, ‘-xtype’ checks the type of the file that ‘-type’ does not check.
The ‘-H’ option also affects the behaviour of ‘-xtype’. When ‘-H’ is in effect, ‘-xtype’ behaves as if ‘-L’ had been specified when examining files listed on the command line, and as if ‘-P’ had been specified otherwise. If neither ‘-H’ nor ‘-L’ was specified, ‘-xtype’ behaves as if ‘-P’ had been specified.
See Symbolic Links, for more information on ‘-follow’ and ‘-L’.