getenv function

C

Function

Reference manual

The getenv function searches the environment list to find the environment variable specified by the parameter name and returns a pointer to the associated value string.

Syntax

#include <stdlib.h>

char *getenv(const char *name);

Parameters

• name: A pointer to a null-terminated string containing the name of the requested environment variable.

Return Value

If the environment variable exists, the function returns a pointer to the associated value string. Otherwise, a null pointer is returned.

Usage Example

In this example, the program retrieves the value of the “HOME” environment variable using the getenv function. If the variable exists, it prints the value; otherwise, it notifies that the variable was not found.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main(void)
{
    char *homePath;

    homePath = getenv("HOME");
    if (homePath != NULL)
        printf("The value of HOME is: %s\n", homePath);
    else
        printf("HOME environment variable not found.\n");
    return (0);
}