//po4a: entry man manual
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@(#)whereis.1 from UCB 4.2
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= whereis(1)
:doctype: manpage
:man manual: User Commands
:man source: util-linux {release-version}
:page-layout: base
:command: whereis

== NAME

whereis - locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command

== SYNOPSIS

*whereis* [options] [*-BMS* _directory_... *-f*] _name_...

== DESCRIPTION

*whereis* locates the binary, source and manual files for the specified command names. The supplied names are first stripped of leading pathname components. Prefixes of *s.* resulting from use of source code control are also dealt with. *whereis* then attempts to locate the desired program in the standard Linux places, and in the places specified by *$PATH* and *$MANPATH*.

The search restrictions (options *-b*, *-m* and *-s*) are cumulative and apply to the subsequent _name_ patterns on the command line. Any new search restriction resets the search mask. For example,

____
*whereis -bm ls tr -m gcc*
____

searches for "ls" and "tr" binaries and man pages, and for "gcc" man pages only.

The options *-B*, *-M* and *-S* reset search paths for the subsequent _name_ patterns. For example,

____
*whereis -m ls -M /usr/share/man/man1 -f cal*
____

searches for "*ls*" man pages in all default paths, but for "cal" in the _/usr/share/man/man1_ directory only.

== OPTIONS

*-b*::
Search for binaries.

*-m*::
Search for manuals.

*-s*::
Search for sources.

*-u*::
Only show the command names that have unusual entries. A command is said to be unusual if it does not have just one entry of each explicitly requested type. Thus '*whereis -m -u **' asks for those files in the current directory which have no documentation file, or more than one.

*-B* _list_::
Limit the places where *whereis* searches for binaries, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.

*-M* _list_::
Limit the places where *whereis* searches for manuals and documentation in Info format, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.

*-S* _list_::
Limit the places where *whereis* searches for sources, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.

*-f*::
Terminates the directory list and signals the start of filenames. It _must_ be used when any of the *-B*, *-M*, or *-S* options is used.

*-l*::
Output the list of effective lookup paths that *whereis* is using. When none of *-B*, *-M*, or *-S* is specified, the option will output the hard-coded paths that the command was able to find on the system.

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== FILE SEARCH PATHS

By default *whereis* tries to find files from hard-coded paths, which are defined with glob patterns. The command attempts to use the contents of *$PATH* and *$MANPATH* environment variables as default search path. The easiest way to know what paths are in use is to add the *-l* listing option. Effects of the *-B*, *-M*, and *-S* are displayed with *-l*.

== ENVIRONMENT

*WHEREIS_DEBUG*=all::
enables debug output.

== EXAMPLES

To find all files in _/usr/bin_ which are not documented in _/usr/man/man1_ or have no source in _/usr/src_:

*cd /usr/bin* *whereis -u -ms -M /usr/man/man1 -S /usr/src -f **

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