1BREAK(P)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  BREAK(P)
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NAME

6       break - exit from for, while, or until loop
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SYNOPSIS

9       break [n]
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DESCRIPTION

12       The break utility shall exit from the smallest enclosing for, while, or
13       until loop, if any; or from the nth enclosing loop if n  is  specified.
14       The  value of n is an unsigned decimal integer greater than or equal to
15       1. The default shall be equivalent to n=1. If n  is  greater  than  the
16       number  of  enclosing  loops,  the  outermost  enclosing  loop shall be
17       exited. Execution shall continue with the command immediately following
18       the loop.
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OPTIONS

21       None.
22

OPERANDS

24       See the DESCRIPTION.
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STDIN

27       Not used.
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INPUT FILES

30       None.
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ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

33       None.
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ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

36       Default.
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STDOUT

39       Not used.
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STDERR

42       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
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OUTPUT FILES

45       None.
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EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

48       None.
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EXIT STATUS

51        0     Successful completion.
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53       >0     The  n value was not an unsigned decimal integer greater than or
54              equal to 1.
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CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

58       Default.
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60       The following sections are informative.
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APPLICATION USAGE

63       None.
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EXAMPLES

66              for i in * do
67                  if test -d "$i" then break fi done
68

RATIONALE

70       In early proposals, consideration was given to expanding the syntax  of
71       break  and continue to refer to a label associated with the appropriate
72       loop as a preferable alternative to the n method. However, this  volume
73       of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001  does  reserve the name space of command names
74       ending with a colon. It is anticipated  that  a  future  implementation
75       could take advantage of this and provide something like:
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78              outofloop: for i in a b c d e
79              do
80                  for j in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
81                  do
82                      if test -r "${i}${j}"
83                      then break outofloop
84                      fi
85                  done
86              done
87
88       and  that this might be standardized after implementation experience is
89       achieved.
90

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

92       None.
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SEE ALSO

95       Special Built-In Utilities
96

98       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in  electronic  form
99       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
100       -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX),  The  Open  Group  Base
101       Specifications  Issue  6,  Copyright  (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
102       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open  Group.  In  the
103       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
104       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
105       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
106       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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110IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                             BREAK(P)
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