EXPORT(1P)                                          POSIX Programmer's Manual                                         EXPORT(1P)



PROLOG
       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (con-
       sult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the  interface  may  not  be  implemented  on
       Linux.

NAME
       export - set the export attribute for variables

SYNOPSIS
       export name[=word]...

       export -p


DESCRIPTION
       The  shell  shall give the export attribute to the variables corresponding to the specified names, which shall cause them
       to be in the environment of subsequently executed commands. If the name of a variable is followed by  =  word,  then  the
       value of that variable shall be set to word.

       The export special built-in shall support the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syn-
       tax Guidelines.

       When -p is specified, export shall write to the standard output the names and values of all exported  variables,  in  the
       following format:


              "export %s=%s\n", <name>, <value>

       if name is set, and:


              "export %s\n", <name>

       if name is unset.

       The  shell  shall format the output, including the proper use of quoting, so that it is suitable for reinput to the shell
       as commands that achieve the same exporting results, except:

        1. Read-only variables with values cannot be reset.

        2. Variables that were unset at the time they were output need not be reset to the unset state if a value is assigned to
           the variable between the time the state was saved and the time at which the saved output is reinput to the shell.

       When no arguments are given, the results are unspecified.

OPTIONS
       See the DESCRIPTION.

OPERANDS
       See the DESCRIPTION.

STDIN
       Not used.

INPUT FILES
       None.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       None.

ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
       Default.

STDOUT
       See the DESCRIPTION.

STDERR
       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OUTPUT FILES
       None.

EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
       None.

EXIT STATUS
       Zero.

CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
       Default.

       The following sections are informative.

APPLICATION USAGE
       None.

EXAMPLES
       Export PWD and HOME variables:


              export PWD HOME

       Set and export the PATH variable:


              export PATH=/local/bin:$PATH

       Save and restore all exported variables:


              export -p > temp-fileunset a lot of variables... processing. temp-file

RATIONALE
       Some  historical shells use the no-argument case as the functional equivalent of what is required here with -p. This fea-
       ture was left unspecified because it is not historical practice in all shells, and some scripts  may  rely  on  the  now-
       unspecified  results on their implementations. Attempts to specify the -p output as the default case were unsuccessful in
       achieving consensus. The -p option was added to allow portable access to the values that can  be  saved  and  then  later
       restored using; for example, a dot script.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.

SEE ALSO
       Special Built-In Utilities

COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this  text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for
       Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6,  Copy-
       right (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any
       discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open  Group
       Standard   is   the   referee   document.   The   original   Standard   can   be   obtained  online  at  http://www.open-
       group.org/unix/online.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                                           2003                                                    EXPORT(1P)