Re: "HOME" environment variable for application

Zero Install decouples the concepts of applications being "integrated" in the system and launching a specific "implementation" of an application. This is why any access points (shortcuts, file associations, command-line aliases, etc.) created by Zero Install first go through "0install run" rather than directly pointing to the application's EXE.

If, for example, an update for an application is downloaded the access points stay the same but the implementation that gets started is a different one. Additionally, an application can be integrated before the implementation has even been downloaded, causing the application to be loaded on first use.

The "Zero Install way" of handling environment variables is to launch the applications that need them via Zero Install as well. They can specify something like Java as a dependency and have 0install set JAVA_HOME to an implementation chosen specifically for that process. If you have a non-0install application installed that needs an environment variable one possible solution is to create a local feed for it.


-----Original Message-----
From: Sebastien Diot [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Freitag, 15. Mai 2015 12:59
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Zero-install-devel] "HOME" environment variable for application

I did not see how to do this, so I assume it's a "feature request". When I install any application that has a command-line interface, I need to be able to refer to the directory where it is installed. So, for example, if I install Oracle JRE and Ant and Maven, I want to have the following environment variables set automatically:
JAVA_HOME
ANT_HOME
MAVEN_HOME
All of those are in fact "Standard" variables that are assumed by scripts that use those tools, and so are generally "expected" to be there. I did not see how to do this in the Zero-Install UI, such that I had to copy the installation path manually and define those variables manually in the environment, pointing to the "obscure" installation paths. I would assume adding those automatically would be a minimal change to Zero-Install, although maybe the cross-platform nature makes this more challenging then it would seem.
Regards,
Sebastien Diot


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One dashboard for servers and applications across Physical-Virtual-Cloud 
Widest out-of-the-box monitoring support with 50+ applications
Performance metrics, stats and reports that give you Actionable Insights
Deep dive visibility with transaction tracing using APM Insight.
http://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/290420510;117567292;y