Env - perl module that imports environment variables as scalars or arrays
use Env;
use Env qw(PATH HOME TERM);
use Env qw($SHELL @LD_LIBRARY_PATH);
Perl maintains environment variables in a special hash named %ENV. For
when this access method is inconvenient, the Perl module Env allows
environment variables to be treated as scalar or array variables.
The Env::import() function ties environment variables with suitable
names to global Perl variables with the same names. By default it
ties all existing environment variables (keys %ENV) to scalars. If
the import function receives arguments, it takes them to be a list of
variables to tie; it's okay if they don't yet exist. The scalar type
prefix '$' is inferred for any element of this list not prefixed by '$'
or '@'. Arrays are implemented in terms of split and join, using
$Config::Config{path_sep} as the delimiter.
After an environment variable is tied, merely use it like a normal variable. You may access its value
@path = split(/:/, $PATH);
print join("\n", @LD_LIBRARY_PATH), "\n";
or modify it
$PATH .= ":.";
push @LD_LIBRARY_PATH, $dir;
however you'd like. Bear in mind, however, that each access to a tied array variable requires splitting the environment variable's string anew.
The code:
use Env qw(@PATH);
push @PATH, '.';
is equivalent to:
use Env qw(PATH);
$PATH .= ":.";
except that if $ENV{PATH} started out empty, the second approach leaves
it with the (odd) value ":.", but the first approach leaves it with ".".
To remove a tied environment variable from the environment, assign it the undefined value
undef $PATH;
undef @LD_LIBRARY_PATH;
On VMS systems, arrays tied to environment variables are read-only. Attempting to change anything will cause a warning.
Chip Salzenberg <chip@fin.uucp> and Gregor N. Purdy <gregor@focusresearch.com>