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the file command relies on the /etc/magic file which contains patterns to identify a files content<br />
<br />
&gt;&nbsp;How can we know tht its a text file?and directory?<br />
not with the file command, obviously (see its name:-)<br />
use ls -l<br />
<br />
&gt;&nbsp;here calc.c is C prog and proj - executable file and newdata is empty file.<br />
what do you mean?<br />
If a file is executable (see ls -l) or not doesn't matter the file command.
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the file command relies on the /etc/magic file which contains patterns to identify a files content

> How can we know tht its a text file?and directory?
not with the file command, obviously (see its name:-)
use ls -l

> here calc.c is C prog and proj - executable file and newdata is empty file.
what do you mean?
If a file is executable (see ls -l) or not doesn't matter the file command.

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Hi <br />
I am new to UNIX.<br />
I want to clarify one thing--<br />
an eg is given as-- $ file monday reports<br />
and the book states monday : text file<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;reports : directory.. How can we know tht its a text file?and directory?<br />
and same as another &nbsp;$ file calc.c proj newdata<br />
here calc.c is C prog and proj - executable file and newdata is empty file.<br />
<br />
So how to classify them ..On what basis are they classified?..
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Hi 
I am new to UNIX.
I want to clarify one thing--
an eg is given as-- $ file monday reports
and the book states monday : text file
                             reports : directory.. How can we know tht its a text file?and directory?
and same as another  $ file calc.c proj newdata
here calc.c is C prog and proj - executable file and newdata is empty file.

So how to classify them ..On what basis are they classified?..

FILE COMMAND

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 at Bell Labs. Today, it is a modern OS with many commercial flavors and licensees, including FreeBSD, Hewlett-Packard’s UX, IBM AIX and Apple Mac OS-X. Apart from its command-line interface, most UNIX variations support the standardized X Window System for GUIs, with the exception of the Mac OS, which uses a proprietary system.