TRUE(1P)                                            POSIX Programmer's Manual                                           TRUE(1P)



PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (con-
       sult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the  interface  may  not  be  implemented  on
       Linux.

NAME
       true - return true value

SYNOPSIS
       true

DESCRIPTION
       The true utility shall return with exit code zero.

OPTIONS
       None.

OPERANDS
       None.

STDIN
       Not used.

INPUT FILES
       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       None.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
       Default.

STDOUT
       Not used.

STDERR
       Not used.

OUTPUT FILES
       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
       None.

EXIT STATUS
       Zero.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       None.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE
       This  utility  is  typically  used  in shell scripts, as shown in the EXAMPLES section. The special built-in utility : is
       sometimes more efficient than true.

EXAMPLES
       This command is executed forever:


              while true
              do
                  command
              done

RATIONALE
       The true utility has been retained in this volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, even though the shell special built-in :  pro-
       vides similar functionality, because true is widely used in historical scripts and is less cryptic to novice script read-
       ers.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       false, Shell Commands

COPYRIGHT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003  Edition,  Standard  for
       Information  Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copy-
       right (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. 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.open-
       group.org/unix/online.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                                           2003                                                      TRUE(1P)