1PUTENV(3P)                 POSIX Programmer's Manual                PUTENV(3P)
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PROLOG

6       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
7       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
8       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9       not be implemented on Linux.
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NAME

13       putenv — change or add a value to an environment
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SYNOPSIS

16       #include <stdlib.h>
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18       int putenv(char *string);
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DESCRIPTION

21       The putenv() function shall use the string argument to set  environment
22       variable  values.  The  string argument should point to a string of the
23       form "name=value".  The putenv() function shall make the value  of  the
24       environment  variable name equal to value by altering an existing vari‐
25       able or creating a new one. In either case, the string  pointed  to  by
26       string  shall  become  part  of the environment, so altering the string
27       shall change the environment.
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29       The putenv() function need not be thread-safe.
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RETURN VALUE

32       Upon successful completion, putenv()  shall  return  0;  otherwise,  it
33       shall return a non-zero value and set errno to indicate the error.
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ERRORS

36       The putenv() function may fail if:
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38       ENOMEM Insufficient memory was available.
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40       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

43   Changing the Value of an Environment Variable
44       The  following  example changes the value of the HOME environment vari‐
45       able to the value /usr/home.
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47           #include <stdlib.h>
48           ...
49           static char *var = "HOME=/usr/home";
50           int ret;
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52           ret = putenv(var);
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APPLICATION USAGE

55       The putenv() function manipulates the environment pointed to  by  envi‐
56       ron, and can be used in conjunction with getenv().
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58       See  exec()  for  restrictions  on  changing  the environment in multi-
59       threaded applications.
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61       This routine may use malloc() to enlarge the environment.
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63       A potential error is to call putenv() with an automatic variable as the
64       argument,  then  return from the calling function while string is still
65       part of the environment.
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67       Although the space used by string is no longer used once a  new  string
68       which defines name is passed to putenv(), if any thread in the applica‐
69       tion has used getenv() to retrieve  a  pointer  to  this  variable,  it
70       should  not  be  freed  by  calling free().  If the changed environment
71       variable is one known by the system (such  as  the  locale  environment
72       variables) the application should never free the buffer used by earlier
73       calls to putenv() for the same variable.
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75       The setenv() function is preferred over this function.  One  reason  is
76       that  putenv() is optional and therefore less portable. Another is that
77       using putenv() can slow down environment searches, as explained in  the
78       RATIONALE section for getenv().
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RATIONALE

81       Refer to the RATIONALE section in setenv().
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

84       None.
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SEE ALSO

87       exec, free(), getenv(), malloc(), setenv()
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89       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2008, <stdlib.h>
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92       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
93       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
94       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
95       Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri‐
96       cal  and  Electronics  Engineers,  Inc  and  The  Open Group.  (This is
97       POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum  1  applied.)  In  the
98       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
99       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard
100       is  the  referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
101       at http://www.unix.org/online.html .
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103       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear  in  this  page  are
104       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
105       files to man page format. To report such errors,  see  https://www.ker
106       nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
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110IEEE/The Open Group                  2013                           PUTENV(3P)
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