which - locate a command

1st chunk of `which.man`

9746ac87569c421d93d0f424c0ec624abd49523a55c66cbd0000000100000399

WHICH(1)                    General Commands Manual                    WHICH(1)

NAME
       which - locate a command

SYNOPSIS
       which [-a] filename ...

DESCRIPTION
       which  returns the pathnames of the files (or links) which would be exe‐
       cuted in the current environment, had its arguments been given  as  com‐
       mands  in  a strictly POSIX‐conformant shell.  It does this by searching
       the PATH for executable files matching the names of the  arguments.   It
       does not canonicalize path names.

OPTIONS
       -a     print all matching pathnames of each argument

EXIT STATUS
       0      if all specified commands are found and executable

       1      if  one  or  more  specified  commands is nonexistent or not exe‐
              cutable

       2      if an invalid option is specified

Debian                            29 Jun 2016                          WHICH(1)

Title: which - locate a command

Summary

The 'which' command locates a command by searching the PATH for executable files matching the given arguments. It returns the pathnames of the files that would be executed in the current environment. The -a option prints all matching pathnames, and the exit status indicates whether the commands were found and executable.