Ada Programming/Libraries/Ada.Environment Variables

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This language feature is only available from Ada 2005 on.

Ada.Environment_Variables is a unit of the Predefined Language Environment since Ada 2005.

Introduction

The Ada.Environment_Variables package allows an Ada program to read, write and modify environment variables. Exactly what constitutes an environment variable is implementation defined. All the code in this article is compiled and executed on a Slackware Linux system. The compiler used is GNATMAKE GPL 2008 (20080521).

Using Ada.Environment_Variables

Environment variables are simple key/value pairs. Both the key and the value are strings. With the Environment_Variables package we can check if a key exists, we can set new key/value pairs, we can delete keys, we can read values, and we can iterate through all the key/value pairs (as can be seen from the very straightforward specification of the package):

package Ada.Environment_Variables is
   pragma Preelaborate (Environment_Variables);
   function Value (Name : String) return String;
   function Exists (Name : String) return Boolean;
   procedure Set (Name : String; Value : String);
   procedure Clear (Name : String);
   procedure Clear;
   procedure Iterate (Process : not null access procedure (Name, Value : String));
end Ada.Environment_Variables;

All of the following examples will be built around this simple core program:

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;

procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
end Env;

Simply insert the code from the following examples after the IO.Put_Line line. So, let's move on and see how we can read an environment value using Ada.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Value

The specification for Value looks like this:

function Value (Name : String) return String;

Reading an environment variable is done using the Value function. It takes a string as its sole parameter and returns the value of a matching environment variable. Try adding this to the core program:

   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "VISUAL"));
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));
   
exception
   when Constraint_Error =>
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "No such environment variable.");

When running this on my machine, I get the following output:

 Environment_Variables test
 /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/lib/java/bin:/usr/lib/java/jre/bin:/usr/lib/qt/bin:.:/usr/local/texlive/2008/bin/i386-linux/
 No such environment variable.

As you can see, a Constraint_Error is raised if the given Name parameter does not match any existing environment variable. If the notion of environment variables isn't supported in the target operating system, a Program_Error is raised instead.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Value Example Source

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "PATH"));
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));
 
exception
   when Constraint_Error =>
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "No such environment variable.");
end Env;

Ada.Environment_Variables.Exists

The specification for Exists looks like this:

function Exists (Name : String) return Boolean;

The Exists function is used to check whether or not a given environment variable name is known to the operating system. If it is, the function will return boolean True, otherwise it returns boolean False.

if EV.Exists (Name => "PATH") then
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "EXISTS!");
else
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
end if;
   
if EV.Exists (Name => "NONEXISTENT") then
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "EXISTS!");
else
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
end if;

The resulting output on my computer is:

 Environment_Variables test
 EXISTS!
 DOES NOT EXIST!

The manual does not say anything about what happens if the execution environment lacks support for environment variables in this case, but I suspect a Program_Error is raised, as with Value.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Exists Example Source

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
   if EV.Exists (Name => "PATH") then
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "EXISTS!");
   else
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
   end if;
 
   if EV.Exists (Name => "NONEXISTENT") then
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "EXISTS!");
   else
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
   end if;
end Env;

Ada.Environment_Variables.Set

The specification for Set looks like this:

procedure Set (Name : String; Value : String);

With Set we can define new and alter existing environment variables:

if not EV.Exists (Name => "NONEXISTENT") then
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
end if;
EV.Set (Name  => "NONEXISTENT",
        Value => "FooBar");
IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));
EV.Set (Name  => "NONEXISTENT",
        Value => "FooBar again");
IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));

The output of this is:

 Environment_Variables test
 DOES NOT EXIST!
 FooBar
 FooBar again

If setting or altering a given environment variable is prohibited by the operating environment, a Constraint_Error is raised. As with Value, a Program_Error is raised if the execution environment has no notion of environment variables.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Set Example Source

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");   
   if not EV.Exists (Name => "NONEXISTANT") then
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "DOES NOT EXIST!");
   end if;
   EV.Set (Name  => "NONEXISTANT",
           Value => "FooBar");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));
   EV.Set (Name  => "NONEXISTANT",
           Value => "FooBar again");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "NONEXISTENT"));
end Env;

Ada.Environment_Variables.Clear

The specification for Clear looks like this:

procedure Clear (Name : String);
procedure Clear;

Deleting environment variables is done using one of the Clear procedures. If a Name parameter is given, Clear will try to delete all environment variables with that name. If no Name parameter is given, Clear will try to delete all existing environment variables.

First lets see how Clear works when given a Name parameter:

   EV.Set (Name  => "Foo",
           Value => "This is Foo");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
   EV.Clear (Name => "Foo");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
   
exception
   when Constraint_Error =>
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment variable Foo does not exist");

And the output:

 Environment_Variables test
 This is Foo
 Environment variable Foo does not exist

Now lets see Clear in action with no Name parameter:

EV.Set (Name  => "Foo",
        Value => "This is Foo");
IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
   
EV.Set (Name  => "Bar",
        Value => "This is Bar");
IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Bar"));
  
EV.Clear;
   
if not EV.Exists (Name => "Foo") and not EV.Exists (Name => "Bar") then
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Foo and Bar are both gone!");
end if;

And the output is:

 Environment_Variables test
 This is Foo
 This is Bar
 Foo and Bar are both gone!

Exactly as expected.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Clear Example Source

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");   
   EV.Set (Name  => "Foo",
           Value => "This is Foo");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
   EV.Clear (Name => "Foo");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
 
exception
   when Constraint_Error =>
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment variable Foo does not exist");
end Env;

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
   EV.Set (Name  => "Foo",
           Value => "This is Foo");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Foo"));
 
   EV.Set (Name  => "Bar",
           Value => "This is Bar");
   IO.Put_Line (Item => EV.Value (Name => "Bar"));
 
   EV.Clear;
 
   if not EV.Exists (Name => "Foo") and not EV.Exists (Name => "Bar") then
      IO.Put_Line (Item => "Foo and Bar are both gone!");
   end if;
end Env;

Ada.Environment_Variables.Iterate

The specification for Iterate looks like this:

procedure Iterate (Process : not null access procedure (Name, Value : String));

Iterate enables us to serially act upon all the environment variables that are available to the program at the time of execution. We can do this by creating a procedure that takes two String parameters and then give Iterate access to this procedure.

Such a program could look something like this:

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;

procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
   
   procedure Print_EV (Name, Value : in String) is
   begin
      IO.Put_Line (Item => Name & "=" & Value);
   end Print_EV;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
   EV.Iterate (Process => Print_EV'Access);
end Env;

Here's a small sample of the output generated by the above program on my system:

 JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/java
 HOME=/home/thomas
 SHELL=/bin/bash

There's a very important note about Iterate in the manual. It states:

Making calls to the procedures Set or Clear concurrently with calls to any subprogram of package Environment_Variables, or to any instantiation of Iterate, results in erroneous execution. Making calls to the procedures Set or Clear in the actual subprogram corresponding to the Process parameter of Iterate results in erroneous execution.

So you cannot call either Set or Clear while using Iterate, at least not without risking a certain amount of undefined behavior.

Ada.Environment_Variables.Iterate Example Source

with Ada.Text_IO;
with Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
procedure Env is
   package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
   package EV renames Ada.Environment_Variables;
 
   procedure Print_EV (Name, Value : in String) is
   begin
      IO.Put_Line (Item => Name & "=" & Value);
   end Print_EV;
begin
   IO.Put_Line (Item => "Environment_Variables test");
   EV.Iterate (Process => Print_EV'Access);
end Env;

Specification

--                     Standard Ada library specification
--   Copyright (c) 2003-2018 Maxim Reznik <reznikmm@gmail.com>
--   Copyright (c) 2004-2016 AXE Consultants
--   Copyright (c) 2004, 2005, 2006 Ada-Europe
--   Copyright (c) 2000 The MITRE Corporation, Inc.
--   Copyright (c) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 Intermetrics, Inc.
--   SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause and LicenseRef-AdaReferenceManual
-- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

package Ada.Environment_Variables is

   pragma Preelaborate (Environment_Variables);

   function Value (Name : in String) return String;

   function Exists (Name : in String) return Boolean;

   procedure Set (Name  : in String;
                  Value : in String);

   procedure Clear (Name : in String);

   procedure Clear;

   procedure Iterate
    (Process : not null access procedure
                                (Name  : in String;
                                 Value : in String));

end Ada.Environment_Variables;

See also

Wikibook

• Ada Programming/Libraries/Ada

External examples

• Search for examples of Ada.Environment_Variables in: Rosetta Code, GitHub (gists), any Alire crate or this Wikibook.
• Search for posts related to Ada.Environment_Variables in: Stack Overflow, comp.lang.ada or any Ada related page.

Ada Reference Manual

Ada 2005

• A.17: The Package Environment_Variables ^[Annotated]

Ada 2012

• A.17: The Package Environment_Variables ^[Annotated]

Open-Source Implementations

FSF GNAT

• Specification: a-envvar.ads
• Body: a-envvar.adb

drake

• Specification: environment/a-envvar.ads
• Body: environment/a-envvar.adb