WHENCE shell intrinsic

[Jack Werner]

Why is there no man information for WHENCE? Also, it appears that "whence" does not locate files that do not have any "executable" bits set. It this the way it is supposed to work? There is man information for "whereis", so I would think there should also be man information for "whence".

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

Hi Jack:

Take a look at the man page for 'sh-posix':

/quote/

whence [-pv] name ...

For each name, indicate how it would be interpreted if used as a command name. With -v, produce a more verbose report. With -p do a path search for name, disregarding any use as an alias, a function, or a reserved word.

/end_quote/

...JRF...

[Jack Werner]

James,

Thanks for the prompt response. Also, thanks for pointing me to the man information. I know the man information for shells is a book, which is why I hoped there would be man information strictly for "whence". Also, from the quote you imbedded I can infer that whence only looks for "commands" (and those files would have at least one "executable" bit set). Whence behaves differently on AIX and finds ANY file regardless of its permissions.