What does "cp is hashed"

Karas · 11-29-2009, 02:29 PM

I realise cp is copy, I was just using that as an example.

I am just wondering what does it mean when certain commands come up as hashed, when I use the type <command>?

Just inquiring really.

colucix · 11-29-2009, 03:19 PM

Try these for some details:

Code:

$ type hash
$ man 1p hash

and a well explained article about hash is this. Here is an excerpt:

Quote:

$ type foo
foo is hashed (/usr/local/bin/foo)

This is reporting that the shell has saved the meaning of foo in a hash table as /usr/local/bin/foo (...). Caching the command in a hash table is an optimization that saves the shell from having to search $PATH every time.