.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" @(#)whereis.1 from UCB 4.2
-.TH WHEREIS 1 "June 2012" "util-linux" "User Commands"
+.TH WHEREIS 1 "January 2013" "util-linux" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
whereis \- locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B whereis
.RB [ options ]
.RB [ \-BMS
-.IR directory ...
-.BR \-f ]
-.IR filename ...
+.IR directory "... " \fB\-f\fR ]
+.IR name ...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B whereis
-locates source/binary and manuals sections for specified files.
+locates the binary, source and manual files for the specified command names.
The supplied names are first stripped of leading pathname components
and any (single) trailing extension of the form
-.BI . ext\fR,\fP
-for example,
-.BR .c .
+.BI . ext
+(for example:
+.BR .c )
Prefixes of
.B s.
resulting from use of source code control are also dealt with.
.B whereis
then attempts to locate the desired program in
-a list of standard Linux places.
+the standard Linux places, and in the places specified by
+.BR $PATH .
+
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.IP "\fB\-b\fP"
Search only for binaries.
.IP "\fB\-m\fP"
-Search only for manual sections.
+Search only for manuals.
.IP "\fB\-s\fP"
Search only for sources.
.IP "\fB\-u\fP"
-Search for unusual entries. A file is said to be unusual if it does
-not have one entry of each requested type. Thus
+Only show the command names that have unusual entries. A command
+is said to be unusual if it does
+not have just one entry of each explicitly requested type. Thus
.RB ` "whereis\ \ \-m\ \ \-u\ \ *" '
asks for those files in the current
-directory which have no documentation.
+directory which have no documentation file, or more than one.
.IP "\fB\-B \fIlist\fP"
-Change or otherwise limit the places where
+Limit the places where
.B whereis
-searches for binaries by white-space separated list of directories.
+searches for binaries, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.
.IP "\fB\-M \fIlist\fP"
-Change or otherwise limit the places where
+Limit the places where
.B whereis
-searches for manual sections by white-space separated list of directories.
+searches for manuals, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.
.IP "\fB\-S \fIlist\fP"
-.B \-S
-Change or otherwise limit the places where
+Limit the places where
.B whereis
-searches for sources white-space separated list of directories.
+searches for sources, by a whitespace-separated list of directories.
.IP "\fB\-f\fP"
-Terminate the last directory list and signals the start of file names,
-and
+Terminates the directory list and signals the start of filenames. It
.I must
be used when any of the
.BR \-B ,
.BR \-M ,
or
.BR \-S
-options are used.
+options is used.
+
.SH EXAMPLE
-Find all files in
+To find all files in
.B /usr/bin
which are not documented
in
.B /usr/man/man1
-with source in
+or have no source in
.BR /usr/src :
.IP
-.nf
-.ft B
-$ cd /usr/bin
-$ whereis \-u \-M /usr/man/man1 \-S /usr/src \-f *
-.fi
-.ft R
+.B $ cd /usr/bin
+.br
+.B $ whereis \-u \-ms \-M /usr/man/man1 \-S /usr/src \-f *
+
.SH FILES
.B whereis
-has basic set of hard-coded paths (see below). If the option
+contains a basic set of hard-coded paths (see below), but if the
.B \-B
-is not specified then also follows
+option is not specified, it also follows the
.B $PATH
environment variable (since version 2.21).
-
-.TP 20
+.IP
+.br
/{bin,sbin,etc}
-.TP
+.br
/usr/{lib,\:bin,\:old,\:new,\:local,\:games,\:include,\:etc,\:src,\:man,\:sbin,\:X386,\:TeX,\:g++-include}
-.TP
+.br
/usr/local/{X386,\:TeX,\:X11,\:include,\:lib,\:man,\:etc,\:bin,\:games,\:emacs}
.SH "SEE ALSO"
-.BR chdir (2V)
+.BR chdir (2)
.SH BUGS
Since
.B whereis
uses
-.BR chdir (2V)
+.BR chdir (2)
to run faster, pathnames given with the
+.BR \-B ,
.BR \-M ,
-.BR \-S ,
or
-.B \-B
-must be full; that is, they must begin with a
+.BR \-S
+options must be full; that is, they must begin with a
.RB ` / '.
.PP
.SH AVAILABILITY