EXPORT(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual EXPORT(1P)
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This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
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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 correspond-
ing to the specified names, which shall cause them to be in the envi-
ronment 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 POSIX.1-2008, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax 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. If a variable
assignment precedes the command name of export but that variable is not
also listed as an operand of export, then that variable shall be set in
the current shell execution environment after the completion of the
export command, but it is unspecified whether that variable is marked
for export.
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 S
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-file
unset 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 feature was left
unspecified because it is not historical practice in all shells, and
some scripts may rely on the now-unspecified results on their implemen-
tations. 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
Section 2.14, Special Built-In Utilities
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2008, Section 12.2, Utility Syn-
tax Guidelines
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
-- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, Copyright (C) 2013 by the Institute of Electri-
cal and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. (This is
POSIX.1-2008 with the 2013 Technical Corrigendum 1 applied.) 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.unix.org/online.html .
Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.ker-
nel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .
IEEE/The Open Group 2013 EXPORT(1P)