ENVIRON$

The ENVIRON$ function returns a STRING environmental value from Windows' environmental settings list.

Syntax

setting$ = ENVIRON$({listIndex%|systemID$})

Description

• The function can use an INTEGER listIndex% value or STRING systemID$ parameter.
• listIndex% refers to the number order of the environmental list. Returns are not in any particular numerical order.
• systemID$ is the specific STRING parameter requested. Returns only the specified environmental STRING setting:
  • "BLASTER" = current Sound Blaster settings if installed.
  • "COMPUTERNAME" or "USERDOMAIN" = OEM PC serial number or the computer name assigned by owner.
  • "HOMEDRIVE" or "SystemDrive" = Windows root drive, normally C: on single partition drives.
  • "HOMEPATH" = current user's Administrator or the single user's "OWNER" folder path.
  • "OS" = Windows Operating System version. Often WindowsNT in modern computers.
  • "PATH" = full path setting that Windows uses to look for file extensions in PATHEXT below.
  • "PATHEXT = Windows extensions used: COM, EXE, BAT, CMD, VBS, VBE, JS, JSE, WSF, WSH, MSC
  • "PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE" = x86 for 32 or 64 bit.
  • "PROGRAMFILES" = path to Program files folder, normally "C:\PROGRAM FILES"
  • "PROMPT" = normally "$P$G" on Windows NT.
  • "SYSTEMROOT" or "windir" = path to the Windows folder including the drive letter like "C:\WINDOWS"
  • "TEMP" or "TMP" = path to TEMP folder. "C:\TEMP" or the user specific temp folder on later versions.
  • "USERNAME" = current Administrator name or "OWNER".

Note: There are other possible system settings that are not listed or never used on older versions. Run Example 1 below for a complete list in your system.

• Note: QB64 may not return the same environment list as QBasic or SET did in DOS.

Examples

Example 1: Viewing the list of environmental parameter settings using a counter loop like SET does in DOS.

DO i = i + 1 setting$ = ENVIRON$(i) ' get a setting from the list PRINT setting$ IF i MOD 20 = 0 THEN PRINT "Press a key": SLEEP: CLS LOOP UNTIL setting$ = ""

ALLUSERSPROFILE=C:\ProgramData COMPUTERNAME=TED-LAPTOP ComSpec=C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe HOMEDRIVE=C: HOMEPATH=\Users\Ted LOCALAPPDATA=C:\Users\Ted\AppData\Local OS=Windows_NT Path=C:\PROGRAMDATA\ORACLE\JAVA\JAVAPATH;C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32;C:\WINDOWS; C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WBEM;C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WINDOWSPOWERSHELL\V1.0\;C:\ WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32 \WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\ PATHEXT=.COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.MSC PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE=x86 PROCESSOR_IDENTIFIER=x86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping 8, GenuineIntel ProgramFiles=C:\Program Files PROMPT=$P$G PSModulePath=C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\ SystemRoot=C:\WINDOWS TEMP=C:\Users\TED\AppData\Local\Temp TMP=C:\Users\TED\AppData\Local\Temp USERDOMAIN=TED-LAPTOP USERNAME=Ted USERPROFILE=C:\Users\Ted

Note: Windows environmental settings are listed alphabetically, 20 at a time. QB64 may not read all of them or may return an empty string. The settings above were returned with SET in DOS. PROMPT returned nothing where SET returned $P$G.

Example 2: Creating a shortcut on a user's desktop for QB64.EXE using the program's icon. Must be run in program's folder to work!

'=== Enter the EXE file and ICON or BMP image for the shortcut. Program$ = "QB64.EXE" '<<<<<<<<<< Enter the exact program name for shortcut ICON$ = "QB64ICON.BMP" '<<<<<<<<<< Enter icon or bitmap to use from program's folder DeskTopShortcut Program$, ICON$ END '====== END DEMO CODE ====== SUB DeskTopShortcut (Program$, ICON$) f = FREEFILE SHELL _HIDE "CD > PRGMDIR.INF" 'get the current program path OPEN "PRGMDIR.INF" FOR INPUT AS #f LINE INPUT #f, PATH$ CLOSE #f KILL "PRGMDIR.INF" PATH$ = PATH$ + "\": FILE$ = PATH + Program$ PRINT PATH$ 'DEMO print A$ = ENVIRON$("HOMEDRIVE") '=== Get Current User setting from Environment. B$ = ENVIRON$("HOMEPATH") C$ = A$ + B$ 'shortcut to user's desktop if found IF C$ = "" THEN C$ = ENVIRON$("ALLUSERSPROFILE") 'try desktop for all users PRINT C$ 'DEMO print URLFILE$ = MID$(Program$, 1, INSTR(Program$, ".")) + "URL" 'change EXE to URL IF C$ > "" THEN SHORTCUT$ = C$ + "\Desktop\" + URLFILE$ 'create filename for the desktop ELSE SHORTCUT$ = PATH$ + URLFILE$ 'if all else fails put in program folder END IF PRINT SHORTCUT 'DEMO print OPEN SHORTCUT$ FOR APPEND AS #f IF LOF(f) THEN CLOSE #f: EXIT SUB '=== if filesize is NOT Zero don't overwrite! Q$ = CHR$(34) '=== Write URL Shortcut file info. PRINT #f, "[InternetShortcut]" 'URL type PRINT #f, "URL=" + Q$ + "file://" + FILE$ + Q$ 'URL program file PRINT #f, "WorkingDirectory=" + Q$ + PATH$ + Q$ 'Working path PRINT #f, "IconIndex = " + Q$ + "0" + Q$ '0 is first index PRINT #f, "IconFile = " + Q$ + PATH$ + ICON$ + Q$ 'Icon path in working folder CLOSE #f END SUB

Adapted from code by Dav

Explanation: The SUB program finds the current program's path and user's desktop path. It then creates the shortcut on the desktop with a program icon. The custom icon should be in the program's folder. If an environmental path is not found, the shortcut is placed in the program's folder. The SUB can be added to any program.

NOTE: A temorary file named PRGMDIR.INF is created and deleted in the example above.

See also

• ENVIRON (statement)
• _DEVICES, _DEVICE$
• _LASTBUTTON, _OS$
• Windows Environment
• Windows User Paths Library

---

Navigation: Main Page with Articles and Tutorials Keyword Reference - Alphabetical Keyword Reference - By usage Report a broken link