Re: Special PATH variable for sourcing scripts?

[Chet Ramey]

On 4/21/24 2:42 PM, Matheus Afonso Martins Moreira wrote:

> However, the manual[1] reveals that bash uses
> the PATH variable for resolving names when
> sourcing scripts that way.

This isn't going away. POSIX requires it.

> The BASH_LIBRARY_PATH variable would be similar.
> If it is defined, it disables the normal PATH
> lookup behavior of the dot operator, making it
> so that bash searches only the directories in
> that list instead. Existing environments will
> not contain that variable, compatibility is
> therefore maintained.

Naming aside, this would have to work differently in POSIX mode, since
POSIX requires the shell to use PATH. Maybe POSIX mode would consult
this variable if present, but fall back to PATH.

> Do you think this would be a good addition
> to bash? Would a patch be accepted?

Sure, it seems like a reasonable feature. PATH overloading is kind of
historical baggage. I'll add it to the list for a future version.

--
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
                 ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, UTech, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://tiswww.cwru.edu/~chet/

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