Environment variables How to use and assign them



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Environment variables

  • Environment variables

    • How to use and assign them
    • Your PATH variable
  • Introduction to shell programming

    • Permissions and making your file executable
    • Input to and Output from shell scripts
    • Control structures
      • If then else
      • For loops
    • Booleans - test
    • Controlling input from within the shell


Environment variables are pieces of information used by the shell and by other programs

  • Environment variables are pieces of information used by the shell and by other programs

  • Useful for customising your working environment and for shell programming

  • Some examples:

    • PATH - the directories the system searches to execute commands
    • TERM - The type of terminal (most commonly xterm and vt100)
    • HOME - Your home directory
    • PS1 – The format of the prompt


Conventionally written using all capitals

  • Conventionally written using all capitals

  • To use, precede by a $ symbol

  • E.g. to find the value of a variable

    • echo $VAR
    • [zlizmj@unnc-cslinux ~]$ echo $HOME
    • /home/domain/zlizmj
  • Variables are expanded by the shell before the command is executed



Environment variables can be used by any program

  • Environment variables can be used by any program



VAR=value

  • VAR=value

  • The change is only visible in the current shell

  • Child processes don’t automatically inherit the environment variables from their parent.

  • We use export to let child processes get the changed value.

    • export VAR=value
  • To add something to your PATH:

    • export PATH=$PATH:new stuff


Your PATH tells UNIX where to look for executables

  • Your PATH tells UNIX where to look for executables

  • You will have a PATH already set up by default.

    • You can alter it or add to it
  • When you type the name of a program, the shell will look for it in your PATH.

  • Each directory on your PATH should be separated by a colon

  • If you change your PATH in one window it is changed only in that window (since PATH is just an environment variable)



In UNIX you type commands at the keyboard and the system responds

  • In UNIX you type commands at the keyboard and the system responds

  • Every operating system has some sort of command interface

  • In UNIX this is a separate program. There are different versions of this program to suit the taste of the user.

  • We use bash (Bourne again shell)

    • … but it is possible to program in other shells and use your existing shell to interpret it
  • In this lecture you will learn about Bourne shell scripting (sh), a predecessor of bash.



The shell is a command interpreter

  • The shell is a command interpreter

    • It reads commands and then executes them
  • It can work interactively or from a text file

  • A shell program is simply a text file which contains commands you would normally type at the prompt

  • The only difference is that the commands are executed in a sub-shell (a child process is created).



The first line (for bourne shell) is usually

  • The first line (for bourne shell) is usually

  • #!/bin/sh

  • # is also used for comments

  • Hence, this line is a special kind of comment: it tells the shell which program to use to execute the commands in the file



Create the text file (using Emacs)

  • Create the text file (using Emacs)

  • Make it executable (optional):

  • chmod u+x filename

  • Run it:

    • filename - only works if file is executable and your PATH is set correctly!
    • /Path/to/executable/filename if filename is executable.
      • ./myscript.sh
    • sh filename if you haven’t made it executable
    • . filename or source filename if you want to execute it without creating a sub-shell


ls -l tells you if files are readable, writable and/or executable and by whom

  • ls -l tells you if files are readable, writable and/or executable and by whom

  • You can change these permissions by using chmod



who is one of u (user), g (group) or o (other)

  • who is one of u (user), g (group) or o (other)

    • can also have a (all)
  • ? is one of + (add a permission) or - (remove a permission)

  • what is one of r (read permission), w (write permission) or x (execute permission)



chmod o-r coursework

  • chmod o-r coursework

    • prevents others from reading your file
  • chmod u+x shellscript

    • makes the file executable by you alone
  • chmod a+x directory

    • makes the directory accessible by everyone (a = all  user, group and others)
  • chmod +x directory

    • We can omit the a (it’s the default)


Each command appears on a separate line

  • Each command appears on a separate line





The first argument to a shell script is called $1

  • The first argument to a shell script is called $1

  • The second argument to a shell script is called $2

  • ….etc…

  • Shell uses echo like Java’s println





Control structures are built in syntax for controlling the order in which execution happens

  • Control structures are built in syntax for controlling the order in which execution happens

  • Common structures are conditionals (if-then-else) and loops (for loops)

  • Keywords should appear at the start of a line







if needs something true or false

  • if needs something true or false

  • Often this means you want to compare things

  • This is more complicated in shell than in most languages

  • Need to use test

  • if test $1 -ge $2

    • succeeds if the first argument is “greater than or equal to the second”


if test $1 = $2

  • if test $1 = $2

    • if $1 is equal to $2 (for strings)
  • if test $1 -eq $2

    • if $1 is equal to $2 (for numbers)
  • -ge

    • (greater or equal)
  • -gt

    • (greater)
  • if test -f $FILE

    • if $FILE exists and is a normal file


You don’t have to use “test”

  • You don’t have to use “test”

    • if [$1 -ge $2]
    • Is just syntactic sugar for
    • if test $1 -ge $2
  • To learn more about test:

    • man test


  • NOTE: There are more complex forms of loop in Bash.



Generally this script will look in the current directory:





# set up personal bin directories

  • # set up personal bin directories

  • PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH:

  • EDITOR=emacs

  • export PATH EDITOR



You can use environment variables in shell scripts just like you can at the command line.

  • You can use environment variables in shell scripts just like you can at the command line.

    • Environment variables are typically written in upper case and are accessed using a dollar symbol
  • You might also want to use other variables in shell scripts

    • These are typically written in lower case and are accessed using a dollar symbol


To get input use read followed by a variable

  • To get input use read followed by a variable



read can have more than one argument

  • read can have more than one argument

    • e.g. read COMMAND ARGUMENTS
  • It will bind the first word of input to the first variable and bind the rest to the second

  • This acts like a list or array – so can be used with for







<< tells a command to use input from within a shell script

  • << tells a command to use input from within a shell script

  • Syntax is command << end where end is some string which will tell the command to stop taking input (<< EOF is most common)

  • This is useful when testing programs – you can automatically run them on sample input





Environment Variables

  • Environment Variables

  • Running Shell Programs

  • Command Line Arguments

  • If-then-else and for loops.

  • Controlling Input and Output.



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