How to set CLASSPATH, or PATH

jhoomjhoom · Jun 3, 2010

Hello,

I have Mac Air Book and am using it to study Java programming for a certification exam (required by my job). So far when I write code and save it to a directory, it complies. Now it seems I need to learn about CLASSPATHs and setting them. When I open the terminal and type in

Code:

echo $CLASSPATH

I get a blank output

however, if I type in

Code:

echo $PATH

I get some directories that end in /bin

Questions
1. How do I set and edit CLASSPATH, or PATH
2. Does the Mac OS use CLASSPATH, or PATH, or both

Please point me in the correct direction

rman · Jun 3, 2010

PATH is an environmental variable. What you saw was your search path for UNIX command/binaries/applications.

If you are running borne/korne shell then do the following:

CLASSPATH=
export CLASSPATH

or

export CLASSPATH=

put what ever you want after the equals sign

DarkestRitual · Jun 4, 2010

The $PATH environment variable sets all of the locations where your system looks for scripts, so that if you just type "name_of_script" and nothing else (like "open 'file/path/of/script") it will still open.

You're running BASH i am assuming, since it is the default shell of the OS X command line. I highly recommend installing VirtualBox and Ubuntu 10.04 though to mess around with shell scripting and other programming. That way you won't eff your computer.

from linuxcommand.org

You can add directories to your path with the following command, where directory is the name of the directory you want to add:

[me@linuxbox me]$ export PATH=$PATH:directory

A better way would be to edit your .bash_profile file to include the above command. That way, it would be done automatically every time you log in.

Most modern Linux distributions encourage a practice in which each user has a specific directory for the programs he/she personally uses. This directory is called bin and is a subdirectory of your home directory. If you do not already have one, create it with the following command:

[me@linuxbox me]$ mkdir bin

Note in OS X the file is not ~/.bash_profile but ~/.profile

jhoomjhoom · Jun 4, 2010

Thank you for the advice.

Fortunately, I already have VirtualBox loaded with Ubuntu, will code from there.

DarkestRitual · Jun 5, 2010

Excellent! Might wanna up your RAM to get that ubuntu machine really humming. I've got 2 gigs of ram to my ubuntu VM and 128MB of VRAM for it, it's pretty sweet. I've been playing around in OS X, so I've customized my terminal and added some aliases and stuff... like, i type "code" and out pops smultron - added CLICOLORS (enabled by default in ubuntu) and customized the scheme a bit... but i really need to get back into the linux VM tomorrow night and start working again.

jhoomjhoom · Jun 5, 2010

Wow, that sounds like fun

XJ-linux · Jun 5, 2010

If you want to have some real fun, type env at the command line. You should get every good idea of most of the items applied to your user's session. God luck with your certification!

jhoomjhoom · Jun 6, 2010

Thanks!