Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (3566 mails)

[Randall R Schulz <rschulz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wednesday 25 April 2007 00:03, Vince Oliver wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I can not find any documentation on what is the difference when I
> define some variable in .bashrc file like for example:
>
> COS_PATH=+$COSSPEC2D_DIR/pro:$COS_PATH
>
> and
>
> COS_PATH=$COSSPEC2D_DIR/pro:$COS_PATH
>
> (ie without +). Could somebody tell me?

The plus is not special. If present, it becomes part of the variable's 
value.


> Also I am not sure when to export variables.  Should I export it at
> the end of .bashrc file or whenever the variable is changed? Or
> perhaps once to export wherever in the file and not to warry about
> changes in later?

Exporting is completely independent of setting. All three of these 
techniques yield the same result:

# A:
ENV_VAR=value
export ENV_VAR

# B:
export ENV_VAR
ENV_VAR=value

# C:
export ENV_VAR=value


I prefer the third form (C). The first (A) is the most classic. Some 
people think it odd to declare a variable exported before it's actually 
set (B).


> thank you
> oliver


Randall Schulz
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