full-command-path.pl

#!/usr/bin/env perl
use strict;
use warnings;

# get a command name, or bail out if the user didn't supply one
my $name = $ARGV[0] or die "must supply a command name";

# get the 'which' output for the user-supplied command name
chomp( my $which_output = `which $name` );

# get the 'file' output from the path gathered above
my $file_output= `file $which_output`;

# put the initial 'which' output in the string to be printed later
my $output_string = $which_output;

# instantiate a variable that will be used in the while loop
my $new_path;

# while the 'file' output contains 'link' inside word boundaries
# note: this will NOT match 'linked', which appears in the output
# of some binaries
while ( $file_output =~ /\blink\b/ ) {
    # get the path name from the 'file' output
    if ( $file_output =~ /`(.*)'/ ) {
        $new_path = $1;
    }

    # add an arrow plus the modifed 'file' output
    $output_string .=" -> $new_path";

    # update the file output, and check it again
    $file_output=`file $new_path`;
}

print "\n$output_string\n";