README revision 110949
1** README for file(1) Command ** 2@(#) $Id: README,v 1.28 2003/02/08 18:35:36 christos Exp $ 3 4This is Release 3.x of Ian Darwin's (copyright but distributable) 5file(1) command. This version is the standard "file" command for Linux, 6*BSD, and other systems. (See "patchlevel.h" for the exact release number). 7 8UNIX is a trademark of UNIX System Laboratories. 9 10The prime contributor to Release 3.8 was Guy Harris, who put in megachanges 11including byte-order independence. 12 13The prime contributor to Release 3.0 was Christos Zoulas, who put 14in hundreds of lines of source code changes, including his own 15ANSIfication of the code (I liked my own ANSIfication better, but 16his (__P()) is the "Berkeley standard" way of doing it, and I wanted UCB 17to include the code...), his HP-like "indirection" (a feature of 18the HP file command, I think), and his mods that finally got the 19uncompress (-z) mode finished and working. 20 21This release has compiled in numerous environments; see PORTING 22for a list and problems. 23 24This fine freeware file(1) follows the USG (System V) model of the file 25command, rather than the Research (V7) version or the V7-derived 4.[23] 26Berkeley one. That is, the file /etc/magic contains much of the ritual 27information that is the source of this program's power. My version 28knows a little more magic (including tar archives) than System V; the 29/etc/magic parsing seems to be compatible with the (poorly documented) 30System V /etc/magic format (with one exception; see the man page). 31 32In addition, the /etc/magic file is built from a subdirectory 33for easier(?) maintenance. I will act as a clearinghouse for 34magic numbers assigned to all sorts of data files that 35are in reasonable circulation. Send your magic numbers, 36in magic(4) format please, to the maintainer, Christos Zoulas. 37 38LEGAL.NOTICE - read this first. 39README - read this second (you are currently reading this file). 40PORTING - read this only if the program won't compile. 41Makefile - read this next, adapt it as needed (particularly 42 the location of the old existing file command and 43 the man page layouts), type "make" to compile, 44 "make try" to try it out against your old version. 45 Expect some diffs, particularly since your original 46 file(1) may not grok the embedded-space ("\ ") in 47 the current magic file, or may even not use the 48 magic file. 49apprentice.c - parses /etc/magic to learn magic 50ascmagic.c - third & last set of tests, based on hardwired assumptions. 51core - not included in distribution due to mailer limitations. 52debug.c - includes -c printout routine 53file.1 - man page for the command 54magic.4 - man page for the magic file, courtesy Guy Harris. 55 Install as magic.4 on USG and magic.5 on V7 or Berkeley; cf Makefile. 56file.c - main program 57file.h - header file 58fsmagic.c - first set of tests the program runs, based on filesystem info 59is_tar.c, tar.h - knows about tarchives (courtesy John Gilmore). 60magdir - directory of /etc/magic pieces 61 magdir/Makefile - ADJUST THIS FOR YOUR CONFIGURATION 62names.h - header file for ascmagic.c 63softmagic.c - 2nd set of tests, based on /etc/magic 64readelf.[ch] - Stand-alone elf parsing code. 65compress.c - on-the-fly decompression. 66print.c - print results, errors, warnings. 67 68If your gzip sometimes fails to decompress things complaining about a short 69file, apply this patch [which is going to be in the next version of gzip]: 70*** - Tue Oct 29 02:06:35 1996 71--- util.c Sun Jul 21 21:51:38 1996 72*** 106,111 **** 73--- 108,114 ---- 74 75 if (insize == 0) { 76 if (eof_ok) return EOF; 77+ flush_window(); 78 read_error(); 79 } 80 bytes_in += (ulg)insize; 81 82E-mail: christos@astron.com 83 84Phone: Do not even think of telephoning me about this program. Send cash first! 85 86Parts of this software were developed at SoftQuad Inc., 56 Aberfoyle 87Cres, # 810, Toronto, Ontario CANADA M8X 2W4. Phone: 416-239-4801 or 88800-387-2777. Email: mail@sq.com. Call for information on SGML editing 89and browsing, Unix text processing, and customised products on Unix, 90DOS and Mac. 91 92From: Kees Zeelenberg 93 94An MS-Windows (Win32) port of File-3.40 is available from 95http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/ 96File is an implementation of the Unix File(1) command. 97It knows the 'magic number' of several thousands of file types. 98