COLON
Section: POSIX Programmer's Manual (1P)
Updated: 2013
Index
Return to Main Contents
PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.
The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult
the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior),
or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
colon
--- null utility
SYNOPSIS
: [argument...]
DESCRIPTION
This utility shall only expand command
arguments.
It is used when a command is needed, as in the
then
condition of an
if
command, but nothing is to be done by the command.
OPTIONS
None.
OPERANDS
See the DESCRIPTION.
STDIN
Not used.
INPUT FILES
None.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
None.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
Not used.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
None.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
Zero.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
EXAMPLES
: ${X=abc}
if false
then :
else echo $X
fi
abc
As with any of the special built-ins, the null utility can also have
variable assignments and redirections associated with it, such as:
-
x=y : > z
which sets variable
x
to the value
y
(so that it persists after the null utility completes) and creates or
truncates file
z.
RATIONALE
None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
Section 2.14,
Special Built-In Utilities
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
(This is POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) In the
event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at
http://www.unix.org/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear
in this page are most likely
to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to
man page format. To report such errors, see
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
Index
- PROLOG
-
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- OPERANDS
-
- STDIN
-
- INPUT FILES
-
- ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
-
- ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
-
- STDOUT
-
- STDERR
-
- OUTPUT FILES
-
- EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
-
- EXIT STATUS
-
- CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
-
- APPLICATION USAGE
-
- EXAMPLES
-
- RATIONALE
-
- FUTURE DIRECTIONS
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
|
|
- Running on 
-
:
: 