UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

After unpacking a solaris 2.6 package with success, I need to update the paths so I can "see"the new software.
The manual shows me what the path should be but I don't have a clue on how to change that.
Asking a stupid question makes me look stupid 30 sec. Not asking makes me stupid the rest of my life....right ?

thanks for your help.

The PATH variable can be set on a one off basis for that login session at the command line thus:

PATH=$PATH:/new/path/to/add

Or to make this permanent for a particular user edit that user's .profile, in their home directory - there should be a PATH definition in that file, simply add the new path(s) as you would do on the command line above.

Regards.

This is slightly off the subject, but is that how you set global variables like PATH, EDITOR, etc.?

As in EDITOR = $EDITOR:/blah/blah

???

Yes,

Or they can be placed in your .bashrc, .cshrc, etc. depending on the shell you are using.

Well, I think:
EDITOR = $EDITOR:/blah/blah
would be a bad idea...
To set your editor to /usr/bin/vim, I would type:
EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim

What PATH=$PATH:/blah/bin does, is sets your path equal to the current PATH, and appends your new directory on the end.

To see what a variable currently is, to can expand it out:

echo $PATH

Please post back if I'm not making sence. I tend to ramble at times.

Makes sense to me. That answered another question I had, so thank you!