NAME

whence - locate a command and describe its type

SYNOPSIS

whence [flags] name...

DESCRIPTION

Without -v, whence writes on standard output an absolute pathname, if any, corresponding to name based on the complete search order that the shell uses. If name is not found, then no output is produced.

If -v is specified, the output will also contain information that indicates how the given name would be interpreted by the shell in the current execution environment.

FLAGS

-p, -P: Do not check to see if name is a reserved word, a built-in, an alias, or a function. This turns off the -v option.
-a: Displays all uses for each name rather than the first.
-f: Do not check for functions.
-t: Output only the type for each command.
-q: Quiet mode. Returns 0 if all arguments are built-ins, functions, or are programs found on the path.
-v: For each name you specify, the shell displays a line that indicates if that name is one of the following:

Reserved word
Alias
Built-in
Undefined function
Function
Tracked alias
Program

EXIT STATUS

0: Each name was found by the shell.
1: One or more names were not found by the shell.
>1: An error occurred.

AUTHOR

David J. Korn, et. al.

COPYRIGHT

2019, David J. Korn, et.al.