3.2 The xasset command
This command can be used to
set,
query or
delete
a XAS environment variable
Setting a scalar variable
xasset variable value
This form is used to set the majority of variables, which contain a single string without blanks
or commas (a numeric value is also stored as a string).
Setting an array variable
It is not possible to use xasset to set special variables which are a list of string
values separated by commas. In such cases like TBW dedicated programs like TBW must be used to
set the variable
Setting more than one variable
xasset FROM file
This form can be used to set many variables at once, reading couples "variable value"
from the given file. Incidentally this means an environment variable cannot have the
name "from".
Querying a value
xasset variable ?
This form is used to query (show at terminal) the value of a variable (which of course cannot be
a single question mark).
Unix csh users must note that if they are not using the "set noglob" option, they cannot type a
single question mark "?", but, to prevent interpretation by the shell they have to escape it "\?"
Deleting a variable
The only current way to delete a variable is to assign to it a blank value. Since the shell strips
any blank value, one can only delete a variable interactively, issuing a
xasset variable
command, and replying with a carriage return to the prompt for a value.