Re: gcj: accessing environment variables

[Nic Ferrier <nferrier at tapsellferrier dot co dot uk>]

Mohan Embar <gnustuff@thisiscool.com> writes:

> Erik,
> 
> >I was going to read an environment variable MYPERSONALENVVAR and I tried
> >to access its value with System.getenv(), until I discovered that
> >System.getenv() throws a "deprecated" exception, and that I should use
> >System.getProperty() instead.
> >
> >Then I tried to read System.getProperty("MYPERSONALENVVAR"), just to get
> >a null in return.
> >
> >Does anybody know how I can get hold of environment variables in gcj?
> 
> Standard practice for passing system environment variables through to Java
> is through a formalism like this:
> 
> Unix : java -DMYPERSONALENVVAR=$MYPERSONALENVVAR MyClass
> Win32: java -DMYPERSONALENVVAR=%MYPERSONALENVVAR% MyClass
> 
> You can then get at the environment variable via System.getProperty("MYPERSONALENVVAR")
> 
> For gcj-generated executables, why not just pass the system environment variable
> as a command line parameter?

<start of rant>
I'd just like to reiterate how much I personally hate this about
Java. Environment variables are a great tool in software
configuration management. I use them all the time. Using the property
trick is one way round things, but I would much prefer to use a real
environment variable.

And I don't really care about portability for environment
variables. They're a unix feature and that's where I use them.
<end of rant>

Apologies. Had to get that off my chest.


Nic