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[Tom Metro]

Jerry Feldman wrote:
> This is much different from Windows where environment variables are
> truly global. MS-DOS and Windows borrowed a number of things from
> Unix, but implemented them differently. So, basically in Unix and
> Linux if you do something from within a terminal windows, such as add
> new group, change PATH or any other environment variable, it will
> ONLY effect the current shell and any child processes, NEVER the
> parent or any peers.

The behavior is identical in Windows, however in Windows NT and later 
they have an API to update the environment in existing processes, such 
as when you use the control panel GUI to set environment variables, but 
in my experience it only works some of the time...at least with Windows NT.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/