Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 - STEP BY STEP GUIDE Manual page 63

Chapter 4. Managing Files and Directories
— an image file
• .xpm
4.2.3. System Files
— a configuration file; configuration files sometimes use the
• .conf
— a lock file; determines whether a program or device is in use
• .lock
— a Red Hat Package Manager file used to install software
•
.rpm
4.2.4. Programming and Scripting Files
— a C program language source code file
• .c
— a C++ program language source code file
• .cpp
— a C or C++ program language header file
•
.h
— a program object file
•
.o
— a Perl script
• .pl
— a Python script
• .py
— a library file
• .so
— a shell script
• .sh
— a TCL script
• .tcl
But file extensions are not always used, or used consistently. So what happens when a file does not
have an extension, or the file does not seem to be what the extension says it is supposed to be?
That is when the
file
For example, you find a file called
can tell what type of file it is by typing:
file saturday
In the example, the command
file that is designated as a text file should be readable by using the
by using a text editor such as gedit or
Tip
To learn more about
For more information on helpful commands for reading files, refer to Chapter 3 Shell Prompt Basics.
command can be helpful.
saturday
file saturday
.
vi
, read the man page by typing
file
without an extension. Using the
displays
ASCII text
cat
man file
extension, as well
.cfg
command, you
file
, telling you it is a text file. Any
, , or commands, or
more less
.
49