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RETURN

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

return --- return from a function or dot script  

SYNOPSIS

return [n]
 

DESCRIPTION

The return utility shall cause the shell to stop executing the current function or dot script. If the shell is not currently executing a function or dot script, the results are unspecified.  

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

The value of the special parameter '?' shall be set to n, an unsigned decimal integer, or to the exit status of the last command executed if n is not specified. If the value of n is greater than 255, the results are undefined. When return is executed in a trap action, the last command is considered to be the command that executed immediately preceding the trap action.  

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

Default.

The following sections are informative.  

APPLICATION USAGE

None.  

EXAMPLES

None.  

RATIONALE

The behavior of return when not in a function or dot script differs between the System V shell and the KornShell. In the System V shell this is an error, whereas in the KornShell, the effect is the same as exit. The results of returning a number greater than 255 are undefined because of differing practices in the various historical implementations. Some shells AND out all but the low-order 8 bits; others allow larger values, but not of unlimited size. See the discussion of appropriate exit status values under exit.  

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.  

SEE ALSO

Section 2.9.5, Function Definition Command, Section 2.14, Special Built-In Utilities, dot  

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