This is Info file which.info, produced by Makeinfo version 1.68 from
the input file which.texinfo.

INFO-DIR-SECTION Miscellaneous
START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
* GNU which: (which).	Show full path of commmands.
END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY


This file documents `which' version 2.x.

Copyright (C) 2000, by

Carlo Wood, Run on IRC <carlo@alinoe.com>
RSA-1024 0x624ACAD5 1997-01-26                    Sign & Encrypt
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Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
are preserved on all copies.


File: which.info,  Node: Top,  Next: Which Program,  Prev: (dir),  Up: (dir)

which: Show the full path of commands
*************************************

   The which program shows the full path of (shell) commands.

This file documents which version 2.12, updated 6 July 2000.

* Menu:

* Which Program::               The which Program
* Invoking Which::              How to invoke which
* Option Summary::              Overview of commandline options
* Return Value::		The return value of which
* Example::			Examples of invokation
* Bugs::			Known bugs
* See Also::			Related UNIX commands
* Index::                       Index


File: which.info,  Node: Which Program,  Next: Invoking Which,  Prev: Top,  Up: Top

The which Program
*****************

   Which takes one or more arguments. For each of its arguments it
prints to stdout the full path of the executables that would have been
executed when this argument had been entered at the shell prompt. It
does this by searching for an executable or script in the directories
listed in the environment variable PATH using the same algorithm as
bash(1).


File: which.info,  Node: Invoking Which,  Next: Option Summary,  Prev: Which Program,  Up: Top

Invoking which
**************

The synopsis to invoke which is

     which [options] [--] programname [...]

* Menu:

* Option Summary::        Option summary


File: which.info,  Node: Option Summary,  Next: Return Value,  Prev: Invoking Which,  Up: Top

Option Summary
**************

`--all'
`-a'
     Print all matching executables in PATH, not just the first.

`--read-alias'
`-i'
     Read aliases from stdin, reporting matching ones on stdout. This
     is useful in combination with using an alias for which itself. For
     example
     `alias which='alias | which -i''.

`--skip-alias'
     Ignore option -read-alias, if any. This is useful to explicity
     search for normal binaries, while using the -read-alias option in
     an alias for which.

`--skip-dot'
     Skip directories in PATH that start with a dot.

`--skip-tilde'
     Skip directories in PATH that start with a tilde and executables
     which reside in the HOME directory.

`--show-dot'
     If a directory in PATH starts with a dot and a matching executable
     was found for that path, then print "./programname" rather than
     the full path.

`--show-tilde'
     Output a tilde when a directory matches the HOME directory. This
     option is ignored when which is invoked as root.

`--tty-only'
     Stop processing options on the right if not on tty.

`--version, -v, -V'
     Print version information on standard output then exit
     successfully.

`--help'
     Print usage information on standard output then exit successfully.


File: which.info,  Node: Return Value,  Next: Example,  Prev: Option Summary,  Up: Top

Return Value
************

   Which returns the number of failed arguments, or -1 when no
`programname' was given.


File: which.info,  Node: Example,  Next: Bugs,  Prev: Return Value,  Up: Top

Example
*******

   A useful way to use this utility is by adding an alias for which
like the following:

     alias which='which --tty-only --show-tilde --show-dot'

This will print the readable ~/ and ./ when starting which from your
prompt, while still printing the full path when used from a script:

     > which q2
     ~/bin/q2
     > echo `which q2`
     /home/carlo/bin/q2

   Aliases are also supported, through the use of an alias for which
itself. An example alias for which that is using this feature is as
follows:

     alias which='alias | which --tty-only --read-alias --show-tilde --show-dot'

This will print the output of alias for each alias that matches one of
the given arguments. For example, using this alias on itself in a tcsh:

     $ alias which alias \| /usr/bin/which -i !\*
     $ which which
     which   (alias | /usr/bin/which -i !*)
     	/usr/bin/which


File: which.info,  Node: Bugs,  Next: See Also,  Prev: Example,  Up: Top

Bugs
****

   The HOME directory is determined by looking for the HOME environment
variable, which aborts when this variable doesn't exist. Which will
consider two equivalent directories to be different when one of them
contains a path with a symbolic link.


File: which.info,  Node: See Also,  Next: Index,  Prev: Bugs,  Up: Top

See Also
********

   bash(1)


File: which.info,  Node: Index,  Prev: See Also,  Up: Top

Index
*****

