Re: unusual question about PATH variable
Art Werschulz
str...@yahoo.co.uk (championsleeper) writes:
> "A binary cannot be found in a directory which is listed in your PATH
> variable (but may be in one of the directories listed in PATH).
> Running the command:
> ____ PATH allowable
> fixes the problem. What should the expression be?"
If I'm understanding the question properly, the answer should be "export".
--
Art Werschulz (8-{)} "Metaphors be with you." -- bumper sticker
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Moe Trin
championsleeper wrote:
>i've completed a certfication exam for linux recently. there was one
>question i could not answer and have had trouble finding an answer for.
Did you take classes for this exam? Asking the instructor is likely to
be the best way.
>"A binary cannot be found in a directory which is listed in your PATH
>variable (but may be in one of the directories listed in PATH).
Doesn't make sense. The 'which' command will search your path for files,
whether they be executable or not - they just have to be in your path.
>Running the command:
> ____ PATH allowable
>fixes the problem. What should the expression be?"
On your system, run the following commands:
zgrep allowable /usr/share/man/*/*
zgrep allowable /usr/share/info/*
and see if anything turns up. There's nothing obvious here. Another problem
is the word PATH - that's normally an environmental variable.
>Afraid this is all I could remember and I could not take my notes out
>of the exam.
I'm afraid the question doesn't sound correct. The 'which' command (often
just an alias for 'type -path') will find stuff that is in your path. Try
this (assumes you have a ~/bin directory, and that this is in your path):
[compton ~]$ which foo
[compton ~]$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/home/ibuprofin/bin
[compton ~]$ ls bin/foo
[compton ~]$ > bin/foo
[compton ~]$ which foo
/home/ibuprofin/foo
[compton ~]$ ls bin/foo
bin/foo
[compton ~]$
and obviously, that isn't even an executable.
>Any guidance appreciated. Doing my head in .......
[compton ~]$ whatis which whereis
which (1) - show full path of commands
whereis (1) - locate the binary, source, and manual page files for a command
[compton ~]$
The difference? 'which' searches your PATH, while 'whereis' searches through
a number of directories where executables might live (but not through the
~/bin/ if it exists).
Old guy