KiCad uses environment variables internally for determining the base paths for libraries, templates, and other assets that can be relocated by packagers or users. More...

#include <environment.h>

Public Member Functions
	ENV_VAR_ITEM (const wxString &aValue=wxEmptyString, bool aIsDefinedExternally=false)

	ENV_VAR_ITEM (const wxString &aKey, const wxString &aValue, const wxString &aDefaultValue=wxEmptyString)

	~ENV_VAR_ITEM () throw ()

bool	GetDefinedExternally () const

void	SetDefinedExternally (bool aIsDefinedExternally=true)

bool	GetDefinedInSettings () const

void	SetDefinedInSettings (bool aDefined=true)

wxString	GetKey () const

const wxString &	GetValue () const

void	SetValue (const wxString &aValue)

wxString	GetDefault () const

wxString	GetSettingsValue () const

void	SetSettingsValue (const wxString &aValue)

bool	GetBuiltin () const

bool	IsDefault () const
	Checks if the variable matches its default value (always false for non-built-in vars)

Private Attributes
wxString	m_key
	The environment variable string key.

wxString	m_value
	The environment variable string value.

wxString	m_defaultValue
	The default value, for built-in variables that are always defined.

wxString	m_settingsValue
	The value that was originally loaded from JSON.

bool	m_isBuiltin
	Set to true for KiCad built-in variables that are always defined one way or another.

bool	m_isDefinedExternally
	Flag to indicate if the environment variable was defined externally to the process.

bool	m_isDefinedInSettings
	Flag to indicate if the environment variable was defined in the settings file.

Detailed Description

KiCad uses environment variables internally for determining the base paths for libraries, templates, and other assets that can be relocated by packagers or users.

Because setting environment variables is not user-friendly on most platforms, KiCad supports two backing stores for these internal variables: the system environment, and the settings system.

We also want to make it possible to change the names and values of environment variables over time with minimal impact to users. Since most users do not customize these variables beyond any customization provided by the packager for their platform, an easy way to get this possibility with minimal user impact is to just not store environment variables if they match the internal (compiled-in) default.

The way environment variables are resolved is (highest to lowest priority):

1) Variables set at runtime via the Configure Paths dialog 2) Variables set in the system environment 3) Variables loaded from the settings system (stored in COMMON_SETTINGS)

For all KiCad system variables, we allow users to change the values at runtime via the Configure Paths dialog. If these variables were set in the system environment, we do not persist any changes made at runtime (and warn the user about this). If the variables were not set in the environment (meaning they were either the default value, or loaded from the settings system), we persist the changes via the settings system. Any variables that match the internal default are not saved in the settings, so that the internal defaults can be changed and the change will not be overridden by an old value cached in the settings file. A simple helper class to store environment variable definitions and values. This is used to initialize the environment variables that are built-in to KiCad, and also to store any variables created by the user.

Definition at line 59 of file include/settings/environment.h.