isatty - test if a file descriptor is a terminal

Synopsis

.. synopsis::

isatty [FILE_DESCRIPTOR]

Description

isatty tests if a file descriptor is a terminal (as opposed to a file). The name is derived from the system call of the same name, which for historical reasons refers to a teletypewriter (TTY).

FILE DESCRIPTOR may be either the number of a file descriptor, or one of the strings stdin, stdout, or stderr. If not specified, zero is assumed.

If the specified file descriptor is a terminal device, the exit status of the command is zero. Otherwise, the exit status is non-zero. No messages are printed to standard error.

The -h or --help option displays help about using this command.

Examples

From an interactive shell, the commands below exit with a return value of zero::

isatty
isatty stdout
isatty 2
echo | isatty 1

And these will exit non-zero::

echo | isatty
isatty 9
isatty stdout > file
isatty 2 2> file