def _syscmd_file(target,default=''):

    """ Interface to the system's file command.

        The function uses the -b option of the file command to have it
        ommit the filename in its output and if possible the -L option
        to have the command follow symlinks. It returns default in
        case the command should fail.

    """
    target = _follow_symlinks(target)
    try:
        f = os.popen('file %s 2> /dev/null' % target)
    except (AttributeError,os.error):
        return default
    output = string.strip(f.read())
    rc = f.close()
    if not output or rc:
        return default
    else:
        return output

### Information about the used architecture

# Default values for architecture; non-empty strings override the
# defaults given as parameters
dataset/ETHPy150Open babble/babble/include/jython/Lib/platform.py/_syscmd_file/original