Where is PWD set?

[Kelvin Lai]

Just curious. Does anyone know where the environment variable PWD is set?

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

I am

It's in your environment as a shell variable. 'env' and 'set' show this variable.

echo $PWD

-Sri

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

$PWD is set in your standard shell. If you type $PWD it will show you your current directory, another way to see your current shell variables is to type 'env'. This will include $PWD

HTH
-Michael

[Kelvin Lai]

I know it is an environment variable($PWD) & I can echo it through "echo $PWD" but my question is, "Where is it set?" is there a configuration file? Is there anyway I can create my own PWD variable that behaves exactly like $PWD but without using the PWD variable?

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

There is no configuration file the contains this information. It is one of the variables that is loaded into memory when the shell is spawned. I am afraid you may not be able to create your own environmental variable.

-Sri

[Kelvin Lai]

Dear Sri,
1. You can create your own environment var by exporting the variables with the export command.
2. You can add environments to the shell by entering them in the ~/.profile file;)

My problem is creating my own PWD that acts as the environment var PWD. If you notice when you change a directory the environment var PWD changes as well. If you were to create MYPWD=$(pwd), when you change the directory it doesn't update.

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Kevin,

You can create any number of variables. I was talking exactly what you said. Only $PWD will change when you change the directory. You cannot create your own variable that behaves like this. There are a set of variables that are fixed. Like PWD, DISPLAY, TMOUT etc., So you can't really create a variable that can function like DISPLAY variable.

I want to rephrase my last message -

I am afraid, you may not be able to create your own environment variable like PWD.

Hope I am little bit clear now :-)

-Sri

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Kevin,

You can create any number of variables. I was talking exactly what you said. Only $PWD will change when you change the directory. You cannot create your own variable that behaves like this. There are a set of variables that are fixed. Like PWD, DISPLAY, TMOUT etc., So you can't really create a variable that can function like DISPLAY variable.

I want to rephrase my last message -

I am afraid, you may not be able to create your own environment variable like PWD.

Hope I am little bit clear now :-)

-Sri

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Kevin,

You can create any number of variables. I was talking exactly what you said. Only $PWD will change when you change the directory. You cannot create your own variable that behaves like this. There are a set of variables that are fixed. Like PWD, DISPLAY, TMOUT etc., So you can't really create a variable that can function like DISPLAY variable.

I want to rephrase my last message -

I am afraid, you may not be able to create your own environment variable like PWD.

Hope I am little bit clear now :-)

-Sri

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Kevin,

You can create any number of variables. I was talking exactly what you said. Only $PWD will change when you change the directory. You cannot create your own variable that behaves like this. There are a set of variables that are fixed. Like PWD, DISPLAY, TMOUT etc., So you can't really create a variable that can function like DISPLAY variable.

I want to rephrase my last message -

I am afraid, you may not be able to create your own environment variable like PWD.

Hope I am little bit clear now :-)

-Sri

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Kevin,

You can create any number of variables. I was talking exactly what you said. Only $PWD will change when you change the directory. You cannot create your own variable that behaves like this. There are a set of variables that are fixed. Like PWD, DISPLAY, TMOUT etc., So you can't really create a variable that can function like DISPLAY variable.

I want to rephrase my last message -

I am afraid, you may not be able to create your own environment variable like PWD.

Hope I am little bit clear now :-)

-Sri

[Michael Tully]

Hi,

Have a look at the man pages for
sh-posix
ksh
sh

There is sufficient information there that should explain your question. Open the man pages and search for PWD.

-Michael

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Due apologies. When I submit my reply, it was hanging, So, I kept on hitting submit so the mess.

-Sri

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Due apologies. When I submitted my reply, it was hanging, So, I kept on hitting submit so the mess.

-Sri