environ(5) 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 :
.B PATH=:/bin;/usr/bin.
HOME A user's login directory, set by login(1) from the
password file passwd(4).
TERM The kind of terminal for which output is to be
prepared. This information is used by commands,
such as nroff, more, or vi, which may exploit
special terminal capabilities. See /etc/termcap or
(termcap(5)) for a list of terminal types.
SHELL The file name of the users login shell.
TERMCAP The string describing the terminal in TERM, or the
name of the termcap file, see termcap(5).
EXINIT A startup list of commands read by ex(1), edit(1),
and vi(1).
LOGNAME The login name of the user.
TZ Time zone information. The format is xxxnzzz where
xxx is standard local time zone abbreviation, n is
the difference is hours from GMT, and zzz is the
abbreviation for the daylight-saving local time
zone, if any; for example, EST5EDT.
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). Arguments may also be
placed in the environment at the point of an exec(2). It is
unwise to conflict with certain sh(1) variables that are
frequently exported by ``.profile'' files: MAIL,PS1,PS2,
SEE ALSO
Page 1 (last mod. 1/14/87)
environ(5) environ(5)
csh(1), ex(1), ksh(1), login(1), sh(1), exec(2), system(3S),
termcap(5), tty(7).
Page 2 (last mod. 1/14/87)