Environment variable, referencing another environment variable

Question

I found, that Rapid Environment Editor program, displays some variables as of type "expandable string". Such variables can refer another variables, for example

JAVA_HOME_45 = ...
JAVA_HOME = %JAVA_HOME_45%
PATH = %JAVA_HOME%\bin

The problem is that such variables are not working from time to time.

The question is: at which level are they implemented? Is this Windows feature? If yes, then how to activate/deactivate/debug it?

from my experience, using variables like in your example works reliable, if you edit them via the Windows standard tool. Maybe the linked editor is buggy. It's not a standard tool, but third party tool. — JimHawkins
– JimHawkins, Commented Nov 2, 2016 at 12:34
I had this exact same problem. The reason the references sometimes worked was because sometimes I was running (powershell) elevated. I was setting (via script pointing to different versions) JAVA_HOME at the user level and referencing JAVA_HOME in my PATH variable at both the machine and user level. Because the machine level didn't have JAVA_HOME set, and because it was referenced in it's PATH, it wouldn't expand. Thus, when running elevated it failed, when non-elevated, it succeeded. — dudeNumber4
– dudeNumber4, Commented Apr 18, 2023 at 20:17
I have similar observation regarding RapidEE. It may be connected with accidental change of variable type from "Expandable String" to "String" which is silently triggered with hotkey F6. — Gennadii Saltyshchak
– Gennadii Saltyshchak, Commented Mar 28, 2024 at 8:21

John Doe · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-16 18:23:46Z

3

I just tested it and it works (like JimHawkins said) with the standard environment variables editor.

This means that it is a Windows feature and it should always be turned on.

You can "debug" it if you open a Console and enter: echo %PATH%.

answered Jun 16, 2017 at 18:23

John Doe

415 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Environment variable, referencing another environment variable

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related