How to use the whereis command

[tech291083]

Hi,

Can any one please teach me as how to use the whereis command to find files etc. Here is a page that I just came across, but can't really make much of it.

http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/cmd/...path=w/whereis

For example if there is a file on my desktop called myfile.txt, how do I search for it? Do I always need to go into the directory first with the cd command and then type the command or is it possible that the command itself will take of it and search through the entire computer automatically? Many thanks.....

[pam]

whereis is not a generic file finder. As that link suggests, it finds binaries, source and man pages. eg 'whereis ls'.
find will do what you want. eg 'find /path/to/desktop -name myfile.txt'. If you don't know where your window manager keeps your desktop, doing it on your home directory will be a good bet.