whereis is a command on Unix and Unix-like operating systems used to locate some special files of a command like the binary file, source and manual page files. The whereis utility was first included with 2BSD,[1] dating back to 1979.[2]
The whereis
man page provides the following sample usage:
% # Find all files in /usr/bin which are not documented in /usr/man/man1 with source in /usr/src:
% cd /usr/bin
% whereis -u -M /usr/man/man1 -S /usr/src -f *
The Unix type
command is similar, but it identifies aliases.
Modern versions of Microsoft Windows feature a similar command: where
.[3]
It's also similar to the where
utility in Multics.
I'm pretty sure we got it in early 79, so I clearly rewrote it at some point if the dates show later
[…] the Where command […] is equivalent to using the Search option in the Start menu.