SYNOPSIS
       break [n]

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

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
        0     Successful completion.

       >0     The  n value was not an unsigned decimal integer greater than or
              equal to 1.


CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       Default.

       The following sections are informative.
       of  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001  does  reserve the name space of command names
       ending with a colon. It is anticipated  that  a  future  implementation
       could take advantage of this and provide something like:


              outofloop: for i in a b c d e
              do
                  for j in 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
                  do
                      if test -r "${i}${j}"
                      then break outofloop
                      fi
                  done
              done

       and  that this might be standardized after implementation experience is
       achieved.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       Special Built-In Utilities

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,  Copyright  (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.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .