ENVIRON(5) File Formats Manual ENVIRON(5)NAME
environ - user environment
SYNOPSIS
extern char **environ;
DESCRIPTION
An array of strings called the `environment' is made available by exec(2) when a process begins. By convention these strings have the form
`name=value'. The following names are used by various commands:
PATH The sequence of directory prefixes that sh, time, nice(1), etc., apply in searching for a file known by an incomplete path name.
The prefixes are separated by `:'. Login(1) sets PATH=:/bin:/usr/bin.
HOME A user's login directory, set by login(1) from the password file passwd(5).
TERM The kind of terminal for which output is to be prepared. This information is used by commands, such as nroff or plot(1), which may
exploit special terminal capabilities. See term(7) for a list of terminal types.
Further names may be placed in the environment by the export command and `name=value' arguments in sh(1), or by exec(2). It is unwise to
conflict with certain Shell variables that are frequently exported by `.profile' files: MAIL, PS1, PS2, IFS.
SEE ALSO exec(2), sh(1), term(7), login(1)ENVIRON(5)
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ENVIRON(7) BSD Miscellaneous Information Manual ENVIRON(7)NAME
environ -- user environment
SYNOPSIS
extern char **environ;
DESCRIPTION
An array of strings called the environment is made available by execve(2) when a process begins. By convention these strings have the form
``name=value''. The following names are used by various commands:
BLOCKSIZE The size of the block units used by several commands, most notably df(1), du(1) and ls(1). BLOCKSIZE may be specified in units of
a byte by specifying a number, in units of a kilobyte by specifying a number followed by ``K'' or ``k'', in units of a megabyte by
specifying a number followed by ``M'' or ``m'' and in units of a gigabyte by specifying a number followed by ``G'' or ``g''.
Sizes less than 512 bytes or greater than a gigabyte are ignored.
EXINIT A startup list of commands read by ex(1) and vi(1).
HOME A user's login directory, set by login(1) from the password file passwd(5).
PATH The sequence of directories, separated by colons, searched by csh(1), sh(1), system(3), execvp(3), etc, when looking for an exe-
cutable file. PATH is set to ``/usr/bin:/bin'' initially by login(1).
PRINTER The name of the default printer to be used by lpr(1), lpq(1), and lprm(1).
SHELL The full pathname of the user's login shell.
TERM The kind of terminal for which output is to be prepared. This information is used by commands, such as nroff(1) which may exploit
special terminal capabilities. See termcap(3) and terminfo(5).
TMPDIR The directory in which to store temporary files. Most applications use either ``/tmp'' or ``/var/tmp''. Setting this variable
will make them use another directory.
TZ The timezone to use when displaying dates. The normal format is a pathname relative to ``/usr/share/zoneinfo''. For example, the
command ``env TZ=US/Pacific date'' displays the current time in California. See tzset(3) for more information.
LOGNAME The login name of the user.
USER Deprecated synonym of LOGNAME (for backwards compatibility).
Further names may be placed in the environment by the export command and name=value arguments in sh(1), or by the setenv command if you use
csh(1). It is unwise to change certain sh(1) variables that are frequently exported by .profile files, such as MAIL, PS1, PS2, and IFS,
unless you know what you are doing.
PROGRAMMING
Programs can query and modify the environment, using the environment routines getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3) and unsetenv(3). Direct access
can be made through the global variable environ, though it is recommended that changes to the enviroment still be made through the environ-
ment routines.
Shared libraries and bundles don't have direct access to environ, which is only available to the loader ld(1) when a complete program is
being linked. The environment routines can still be used, but if direct access to environ is needed, the _NSGetEnviron() routine, defined in
<crt_externs.h>, can be used to retrieve the address of environ at runtime.
SEE ALSO csh(1), ex(1), login(1), sh(1), getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3), unsetenv(3), execve(2), execle(3), system(3), termcap(3), terminfo(5)HISTORY
The environ manual page appeared in 4.2BSD.
4.2 Berkeley Distribution April 19, 1994 4.2 Berkeley Distribution