Gitbash is not setting environment variable correctly

Question

I am trying to use npm install debug in my node server.

var debugModule = require('debug');
var debugMainApp = debugModule('debugMainApp')

const express = require('express');

const app =  express();

const port ='3000';
const domain = 'localhost';

app.listen(port,domain,()=>{
     debugMainApp('Server started in port: ' + port + ' hostname: ' + domain);
});

debugMainApp('Server started in port: ' + port + ' hostname: ' + domain); is not printing anything to console.

My attempts to solve this issue
By setting the attribute debugMain.enabled = true manually debugMainApp('Server started in port: ' + port + ' hostname: ' + domain); printed the following into console:

mainApp Server started in port: 3000 hostname: localhost +0ms

To my understanding this debugMain.enabled attribute should be set automatically when an environment variable that matches the string debugModule('this_String') is set.

Here is how I set the environment variable and start my server

$ DEBUG=debugMainApp & node server.js

But it seems that the latter is not setting the environment variable properly.

Questions

If you think my environment variable theory is right. What is the correct way to set an environment variable using a GitBash command line? e.g.$ DEBUG=mainApp & node server.js
Could it be something else?

Thanks in advance.

More relevant info:
My OS: Windows 10
GitBash Version: 2.13.0.windows.1
NodeJS version: 6.10.3

RESOLUTION

when an environment variable that matches the string debugModule('this_String') is set. Yes, this string would be mainApp but you're calling it with debugMain. — Vasan
– Vasan, Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 20:33
It was a typo on my part, these strings DO match on my code. The '&' in $ DEBUG=debugMain & node server.js was messing things up. — Jorge González
– Jorge González, Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 20:43

VonC · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-19 21:02:50Z

2

The & would indicate to the bash to launch a process in background.

The right syntax is:

DEBUG=mainApp node server.js

See more at "Why is setting a variable before a command legal in bash?"

A simple command is a sequence of optional variable assignments followed by blank-separated words and redirections, and terminated by a control operator.

edited Feb 19, 2018 at 21:02

answered Feb 19, 2018 at 20:55

VonC

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