MPE/iX Shell and Utilities Reference Manual, Vol 1

command(1) MPE/iX Shell and Utilities command(1)
NAME
command — execute a simple command
SYNOPSIS
command [–p] command-name[argument...]
command [–V–v] command-name
DESCRIPTION
command causes the shell to suppress its function lookup and execute the given command-
name and arguments as though they made up a standard command line. In most cases, if com-
mand-name is not the name of a function, the results are the same as omitting command. If,
however, command-name is a special built-in utility (see sh(1)), some unique properties of
special built-ins do not apply:
• A syntax error in the utility does not cause the shell executing the utility to abort.
• Variable assignments specified with the special built-in utility do not remain in effect
after the shell has executed the utility.
Options
command accepts the following options:
–p searches for command-name using the default system
PATH .
–V writes a string indicating how the shell interprets command-name.Ifcommand-name
is a utility, regular built-in utility, or an implementation-provided function found
using the
PATH variable, the string identifies it as such and includes the absolute path
name. If command-name is an alias, function, special built-in utility, or reserved
word, the string identifies it as such and includes its definition if it is an alias.
–v writes a string indicating the path name or command that the shell uses to invoke
command-name.
EXAMPLES
Typically, you use command when you have a command that may have the same name as a
function. For example, here’s a definition of a cd function that not only switches to a new
directory, but also uses lc to list the contents of that directory.
function cd {
command cd $1
lc
}
Inside the function, we use command to get at the real cd. If we didn’t do this, the cd func-
tion would call itself in an infinite recursion.
Commands and Utilities 1-121