Set an environment variable

[Chris F.A. Johnson]

On 2005-10-21, Christian wrote:
> Erik Max Francis wrote:
>> Christian wrote:
>> 
>>> Can I write a .py script that calls a .sh script that executes the 
>>> export command and then calls another .py script (and how would the 
>>> first .py script look)?
>> 
>> No, the shell script that the Python program would invoke would be a 
>> different process and so commands executed in it would have no effect on 
>> the state of another.
>> 
>
> So executing an .sh script that calls a .py script works different when 
> executed from a command promt than when executed from a starter .py script?

    No; it's always the same: an environment variable will only be
    effective in the process in which it is set, and its children.

    When you call another program, whether it's a shell script, python
    script, or binary executable, you are starting a new process.
    Environment variables set in that process will not affect its
    parent (i.e., the process that called it).

-- 
    Chris F.A. Johnson                     <http://cfaj.freeshell.org>
    ==================================================================
    Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach, 2005, Apress
    <http://www.torfree.net/~chris/books/cfaj/ssr.html>