ENVIRON(5) ENVIRON(5) NAME environ - user environment SYNOPSIS extern char **environ; DESCRIPTION An array of strings called the `environment' is made avail- able 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 PATH=:/bin:/usr/bin. HOME A user's login directory, set by login(1) from the password file passwd(5). TERM The kind of terminal for which output is to be prepared. This information is used by commands, such as nroff or plot(1), which may exploit special terminal capabilities. See term(7) for a list of terminal types. Further names may be placed in the environment by the export command and `name=value' arguments in sh(1), or by exec(2). It is unwise to conflict with certain Shell variables that are frequently exported by `.profile' files: MAIL, PS1, PS2, IFS. SEE ALSO exec(2), sh(1), term(7), login(1)