Shell - How to find directory of some command?

Question

I know that when you are on shell, the only commands that can be used are the ones that can be found on some directory set on PATH. Even I don\'t know how to see what dirs a

Answer 1

If you're using Bash or zsh, use this:

type -a lshw

This will show whether the target is a builtin, a function, an alias or an external executable. If the latter, it will show each place it appears in your PATH.

bash$ type -a lshw
lshw is /usr/bin/lshw
bash$ type -a ls
ls is aliased to `ls --color=auto'
ls is /bin/ls
bash$ zsh
zsh% type -a which
which is a shell builtin
which is /usr/bin/which

In Bash, for functions type -a will also display the function definition. You can use declare -f functionname to do the same thing (you have to use that for zsh, since type -a doesn't).