Oracle7 Administrator's Reference for UNIX

UNIX Environment Variables for Oracle7

The following table provides the syntax and examples for UNIX environment variables used with Oracle7. Not all systems use environment variables; see your operating system documentation for more information.

Variable Detail Definition
ADA_PATH Function Specifies the directory containing the Ada compiler.
DISPLAY Function Used by X-based tools. Specifies the display device used for input and output. See vendor's X Windows documentation for details.
Syntax hostname:display Hostname is the network identifier for the display device; display is a number which is almost always 0.
Example 135.287.222.12:0 bambi:0
HOME Function The user's home directory.
LANG or LANGUAGE Function Specifies the language and character set used by the operating system for messages and other output. See the operating system documentation, and your Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
LDOPTS Function Specifies the default linker options on some platforms. See man pages on ld for details.
LPDEST Function Specifies the user's default printer for System V-based systems.
Syntax printer_name
Example docqms
LDPATH Function Default directories used by the linker to find shared object libraries. See man pages on ld for details.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH Function Used on some platforms by the shared library loader (ld.so) at runtime to find shared object libraries. See man pages on ld.so for details.
Syntax colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
Example /usr/lib:$ORACLE_HOME/lib
PATH Function Used by the shell to locate executable programs; needs to include $ORACLE_HOME/bin.
Syntax colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
Example /bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:
/usr/bin/X11:$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$HOME/bin:.Note: The period adds the current working directory to the search path.
PRINTER Function Selects the user's default printer for BSD-based systems.
Syntax printer_name
Example docqms
SHELL Function Specifies the command interpreter used during a host command.
Syntax shell pathname
Range of Values /bin/sh or /bin/csh or /bin/ksh or any other command interpreter supplied with your system
Example /bin/sh
TERM Function Used by Oracle Toolkit II character mode tools to determine terminal types; also used by other UNIX tools for the same purpose.
Example vt100
TMPDIR Function Specifies the default directory for temporary disk files; if set, tools that create a temporary files do so in this directory.
Syntax directory_path
Example /u02/oracle/tmp
XENVIRONMENT Function Specifies a file containing X Windows system resource definitions. See your X Windows documentation for more information.

Table 6 - 2. UNIX Environment Variables

Setting the System Time

The TZ variable sets your time zone. Check your operating system documentation to see if your operating system uses this environment variable.

It also allows a user to adjust the clock for for daylight saving time changes, or different time zones. The adjusted time is used to time-stamp files, produce the output of the date command, and obtain the current SYSDATE.

Warning: Users are discouraged from changing their personal TZ value. Using different values of TZ such as GMT+24 may change the day a transaction is recorded. This affects Oracle applications that use SYSDATE, such as Oracle Financials. Use sequence numbers to order a table instead of date columns to avoid this problem.

Variable	Detail	Definition
ADA_PATH	Function	Specifies the directory containing the Ada compiler.
DISPLAY	Function	Used by X-based tools. Specifies the display device used for input and output. See vendor's X Windows documentation for details.
	Syntax	hostname:display Hostname is the network identifier for the display device; display is a number which is almost always 0.
	Example	135.287.222.12:0 bambi:0
HOME	Function	The user's home directory.
LANG or LANGUAGE	Function	Specifies the language and character set used by the operating system for messages and other output. See the operating system documentation, and your Oracle7 Installation Guide for your platform.
LDOPTS	Function	Specifies the default linker options on some platforms. See man pages on ld for details.
LPDEST	Function	Specifies the user's default printer for System V-based systems.
	Syntax	printer_name
	Example	`docqms`
LDPATH	Function	Default directories used by the linker to find shared object libraries. See man pages on ld for details.
LD_LIBRARY_PATH	Function	Used on some platforms by the shared library loader (ld.so) at runtime to find shared object libraries. See man pages on ld.so for details.
	Syntax	colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
	Example	/usr/lib:$ORACLE_HOME/lib
PATH	Function	Used by the shell to locate executable programs; needs to include $ORACLE_HOME/bin.
	Syntax	colon-separated list of directories directory:directory:directory
	Example	/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin: /usr/bin/X11:$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$HOME/bin:.Note: The period adds the current working directory to the search path.
PRINTER	Function	Selects the user's default printer for BSD-based systems.
	Syntax	printer_name
	Example	`docqms`
SHELL	Function	Specifies the command interpreter used during a host command.
	Syntax	shell pathname
	Range of Values	/bin/sh or /bin/csh or /bin/ksh or any other command interpreter supplied with your system
	Example	/bin/sh
TERM	Function	Used by Oracle Toolkit II character mode tools to determine terminal types; also used by other UNIX tools for the same purpose.
	Example	vt100
TMPDIR	Function	Specifies the default directory for temporary disk files; if set, tools that create a temporary files do so in this directory.
	Syntax	directory_path
	Example	/u02/oracle/tmp
XENVIRONMENT	Function	Specifies a file containing X Windows system resource definitions. See your X Windows documentation for more information.