Equivalent of *Nix 'which' command in PowerShell?

Question

How do I ask PowerShell where something is?

For instance, \"which notepad\" and it returns the directory where the notepad.exe is run from according to the current

Answer 1

This seems to do what you want (I found it on http://huddledmasses.org/powershell-find-path/):

Function Find-Path($Path, [switch]$All = $false, [Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.TestPathType]$type = "Any")
## You could comment out the function stuff and use it as a script instead, with this line:
#param($Path, [switch]$All = $false, [Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.TestPathType]$type = "Any")
   if($(Test-Path $Path -Type $type)) {
      return $path
   } else {
      [string[]]$paths = @($pwd);
      $paths += "$pwd;$env:path".split(";")

      $paths = Join-Path $paths $(Split-Path $Path -leaf) | ? { Test-Path $_ -Type $type }
      if($paths.Length -gt 0) {
         if($All) {
            return $paths;
         } else {
            return $paths[0]
         }
      }
   }
   throw "Couldn't find a matching path of type $type"
}
Set-Alias find Find-Path

Answer 2

Try this example:

(Get-Command notepad.exe).Path

Answer 3

The very first alias I made once I started customizing my profile in PowerShell was 'which'.

New-Alias which get-command

To add this to your profile, type this:

"`nNew-Alias which get-command" | add-content $profile

The `n at the start of the last line is to ensure it will start as a new line.

Answer 4

I have this which advanced function in my PowerShell profile:

function which {
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Identifies the source of a PowerShell command.
.DESCRIPTION
Identifies the source of a PowerShell command. External commands (Applications) are identified by the path to the executable
(which must be in the system PATH); cmdlets and functions are identified as such and the name of the module they are defined in
provided; aliases are expanded and the source of the alias definition is returned.
.INPUTS
No inputs; you cannot pipe data to this function.
.OUTPUTS
.PARAMETER Name
The name of the command to be identified.
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\Users\Smith\Documents> which Get-Command

Get-Command: Cmdlet in module Microsoft.PowerShell.Core

(Identifies type and source of command)
.EXAMPLE
PS C:\Users\Smith\Documents> which notepad

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\notepad.exe

(Indicates the full path of the executable)
#>
    param(
    [String]$name
    )

    $cmd = Get-Command $name
    $redirect = $null
    switch ($cmd.CommandType) {
        "Alias"          { "{0}: Alias for ({1})" -f $cmd.Name, (. { which cmd.Definition } ) }
        "Application"    { $cmd.Source }
        "Cmdlet"         { "{0}: {1} {2}" -f $cmd.Name, $cmd.CommandType, (. { if ($cmd.Source.Length) { "in module {0}" -f $cmd.Source} else { "from unspecified source" } } ) }
        "Function"       { "{0}: {1} {2}" -f $cmd.Name, $cmd.CommandType, (. { if ($cmd.Source.Length) { "in module {0}" -f $cmd.Source} else { "from unspecified source" } } ) }
        "Workflow"       { "{0}: {1} {2}" -f $cmd.Name, $cmd.CommandType, (. { if ($cmd.Source.Length) { "in module {0}" -f $cmd.Source} else { "from unspecified source" } } ) }
        "ExternalScript" { $cmd.Source }
        default          { $cmd }
    }
}

Answer 5

Check this PowerShell Which.

The code provided there suggests this:

($Env:Path).Split(";") | Get-ChildItem -filter notepad.exe

Answer 6

I like Get-Command | Format-List, or shorter, using aliases for the two and only for powershell.exe:

gcm powershell | fl

You can find aliases like this:

alias -definition Format-List

Tab completion works with gcm.