Jorgen Grahn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 07:42:19 -0700, Alex Martelli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Grant Edwards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> On 2005-10-24, Eric Brunel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >> The only think you can export an environment variable to is a >>> >> child process >>> > Well, you know that, and I know that too. From my experience, >>> > many people don't... >>> True. Using Unix for 20+ years probably warps one's perception >>> of what's obvious and what isn't. >> This specific issue is identical in Windows, isn't it? I do not know >> any OS which does have the concept of "environment variable" yet lets >> such variables be ``exported'' to anything but a child process. > AmigaDOS, if I recall correctly. Its "ENV:" drive/namespace is global, and > that's its closest thing to Unix environment variables.
AmigaDOS had both global environment variables (using the ENV: device) and local environment variables, that worked like the Unix version. You manipulated them in a similar way in the shell, and they had a similar API for programmers: one call with a flag to indicate which you wanted. The ENV: device was an implementation detail that let you save/restore the state of the global environment with file commands. The posix calls checked the local then global variables. Of course, this is now 10+ year old memory, and I may not RC. <mike -- Mike Meyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/ Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
