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<center><font size="2">The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6<br>
IEEE Std 1003.1-2001<br>
Copyright &copy; 2001 The IEEE and The Open Group, All Rights reserved.</font></center>
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<hr size="2" noshade>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_01"></a>NAME</h4>
<blockquote>setenv - add or change environment variable</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_02"></a>SYNOPSIS</h4>
<blockquote class="synopsis">
<div class="box"><code><tt><sup>[<a href="javascript:open_code('CX')">CX</a>]</sup> <img src="../images/opt-start.gif" alt=
"[Option Start]" border="0"> #include &lt;<a href="../basedefs/stdlib.h.html">stdlib.h</a>&gt;<br>
<br>
int setenv(const char *</tt><i>envname</i><tt>, const char *</tt><i>envval</i><tt>, int</tt> <i>overwrite</i><tt>); <img src=
"../images/opt-end.gif" alt="[Option End]" border="0"></tt></code></div>
<tt><br>
</tt></blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_03"></a>DESCRIPTION</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>The <i>setenv</i>() function shall update or add a variable in the environment of the calling process. The <i>envname</i>
argument points to a string containing the name of an environment variable to be added or altered. The environment variable shall
be set to the value to which <i>envval</i> points. The function shall fail if <i>envname</i> points to a string which contains an
<tt>'='</tt> character. If the environment variable named by <i>envname</i> already exists and the value of <i>overwrite</i> is
non-zero, the function shall return success and the environment shall be updated. If the environment variable named by
<i>envname</i> already exists and the value of <i>overwrite</i> is zero, the function shall return success and the environment
shall remain unchanged.</p>
<p>If the application modifies <i>environ</i> or the pointers to which it points, the behavior of <i>setenv</i>() is undefined. The
<i>setenv</i>() function shall update the list of pointers to which <i>environ</i> points.</p>
<p>The strings described by <i>envname</i> and <i>envval</i> are copied by this function.</p>
<p>The <i>setenv</i>() function need not be reentrant. A function that is not required to be reentrant is not required to be
thread-safe.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_04"></a>RETURN VALUE</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>Upon successful completion, zero shall be returned. Otherwise, -1 shall be returned, <i>errno</i> set to indicate the error, and
the environment shall be unchanged.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_05"></a>ERRORS</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>The <i>setenv</i>() function shall fail if:</p>
<dl compact>
<dt>[EINVAL]</dt>
<dd>The <i>name</i> argument is a null pointer, points to an empty string, or points to a string containing an <tt>'='</tt>
character.</dd>
<dt>[ENOMEM]</dt>
<dd>Insufficient memory was available to add a variable or its value to the environment.</dd>
</dl>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<div class="box"><em>The following sections are informative.</em></div>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_06"></a>EXAMPLES</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_07"></a>APPLICATION USAGE</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_08"></a>RATIONALE</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>Unanticipated results may occur if <i>setenv</i>() changes the external variable <i>environ</i>. In particular, if the optional
<i>envp</i> argument to <i>main</i>() is present, it is not changed, and thus may point to an obsolete copy of the environment (as
may any other copy of <i>environ</i>). However, other than the aforementioned restriction, the developers of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001 intended that the traditional method of walking through the environment by way of the <i>environ</i>
pointer must be supported.</p>
<p>It was decided that <i>setenv</i>() should be required by this revision because it addresses a piece of missing functionality,
and does not impose a significant burden on the implementor.</p>
<p>There was considerable debate as to whether the System V <a href="../functions/putenv.html"><i>putenv</i>()</a> function or the
BSD <i>setenv</i>() function should be required as a mandatory function. The <i>setenv</i>() function was chosen because it
permitted the implementation of the <a href="../functions/unsetenv.html"><i>unsetenv</i>()</a> function to delete environmental
variables, without specifying an additional interface. The <a href="../functions/putenv.html"><i>putenv</i>()</a> function is
available as an XSI extension.</p>
<p>The standard developers considered requiring that <i>setenv</i>() indicate an error when a call to it would result in exceeding
{ARG_MAX}. The requirement was rejected since the condition might be temporary, with the application eventually reducing the
environment size. The ultimate success or failure depends on the size at the time of a call to <i><a href=
"../functions/exec.html">exec</a></i>, which returns an indication of this error condition.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_09"></a>FUTURE DIRECTIONS</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>None.</p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_10"></a>SEE ALSO</h4>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="getenv.html"><i>getenv</i>()</a> , <a href="unsetenv.html"><i>unsetenv</i>()</a> , the Base Definitions volume of
IEEE&nbsp;Std&nbsp;1003.1-2001, <a href="../basedefs/stdlib.h.html"><i>&lt;stdlib.h&gt;</i></a>, <a href=
"../basedefs/sys/types.h.html"><i>&lt;sys/types.h&gt;</i></a>, <a href="../basedefs/unistd.h.html"><i>&lt;unistd.h&gt;</i></a></p>
</blockquote>
<h4><a name="tag_03_647_11"></a>CHANGE HISTORY</h4>
<blockquote>
<p>First released in Issue 6. Derived from the IEEE&nbsp;P1003.1a draft standard.</p>
</blockquote>
<div class="box"><em>End of informative text.</em></div>
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