The export builtin command

Synopsis

export [-fn] [NAME[=VALUE] ...]
export -p

Description

The export builtin command is used to mark variables or functions referenced by NAME for automatic export to the environment. If NAME is a shell variable, a value VALUE can be assigned before exporting it.

Options

Option Description

-f refer to shell functions -n remove the export property from any referenced NAME -p print all exported variables, with -f, print all exported functions - all in a format re-usable as input

An argument of -- disables further option processing.

Return status

Status Reason

0 no error !=0 invalid option !=0 a given NAME is invalid

Examples

Set the display to use when launching a GUI application (useful during SSH sessions):

export DISPLAY=":0"

Set your default text editor (e.g. SublimeText):

export EDITOR=subl

Portability considerations

in POSIX(r), only the -p option is specified
in POSIX(r), only variables (with value assignment) are to be exported, not shell functions

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