EXPORT(P)						     POSIX Programmer's Manual							 EXPORT(P)

NAME

       export - set the export attribute for variables

SYNOPSIS

       export name[=word]...

       export -p

DESCRIPTION

       The  shell shall give the export attribute to the variables corresponding to the specified names, which shall cause them to be in the envi-
       ronment of subsequently executed commands. If the name of a variable is followed by = word, then the value of that variable shall be set to
       word.

       The export special built-in shall support the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.

       When -p is specified, export shall write to the standard output the names and values of all exported variables, in the following format:

	      "export %s=%s
", <name>, <value>

       if name is set, and:

	      "export %s
", <name>

       if name is unset.

       The  shell  shall  format the output, including the proper use of quoting, so that it is suitable for reinput to the shell as commands that
       achieve the same exporting results, except:

	1. Read-only variables with values cannot be reset.

	2. Variables that were unset at the time they were output need not be reset to the unset state if a value  is  assigned  to  the  variable
	   between the time the state was saved and the time at which the saved output is reinput to the shell.

       When no arguments are given, the results are unspecified.

OPTIONS

       See the DESCRIPTION.

OPERANDS

       See the DESCRIPTION.

STDIN

       Not used.

INPUT FILES

       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       None.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS

       Default.

STDOUT

       See the DESCRIPTION.

STDERR

       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES

       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION

       None.

EXIT STATUS

       Zero.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS

       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE

       None.

EXAMPLES

       Export PWD and HOME variables:

	      export PWD HOME

       Set and export the PATH variable:

	      export PATH=/local/bin:$PATH

       Save and restore all exported variables:

	      export -p > temp-fileunset a lot of variables... processing. temp-file

RATIONALE

       Some  historical  shells  use  the  no-argument	case  as the functional equivalent of what is required here with -p. This feature was left
       unspecified because it is not historical practice in all shells, and some scripts may rely on the now-unspecified results on  their  imple-
       mentations.  Attempts  to  specify  the	-p output as the default case were unsuccessful in achieving consensus. The -p option was added to
       allow portable access to the values that can be saved and then later restored using; for example, a dot script.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       Special Built-In Utilities

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technol-
       ogy -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
       Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and  the  original  IEEE
       and  The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained
       online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE
/The Open Group						       2003								 EXPORT(P)