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3. Environment variables

The following environment variables are convenient to use while customizing or extending XXE. However, these variables are not really meant to be used in production.

Notes:

  • All the scripts used to start XXE (that is, xxe, xxe.bat and xxe.jstart, convertdoc, convertdoc.bat) automatically define system properties corresponding to the following environment variables.

  • You cannot use the following environment variables on the Mac[39] due to limitations in Apple's Java™ launcher.

Variable nameValueDescription
XXE_ADDON_PATHList of directory filenames separated by semi-colons (';').

Important

Do not forget to clear, or even disable, the Quick Start cache before using XXE_ADDON_PATH.

All the directories referenced in this list are recursively scanned by XXE during its startup to dynamically discover add-ons.

Linux example:

~$ XXE_ADDON_PATH="my_docbook;+" convertdoc \
    docb.toHTML doc.xml -u out

More info in chapter "The lookup phase during XXE startup" of Section 1, “Dynamic discovery of add-ons” in XMLmind XML Editor - Configuration and Deployment.

XXE_GUIRelative or absolute filename or URL of an XXE GUI specification (.xxe_gui) file. A relative filename is relative to the current working directory.

Specifies which GUI to use for the newly started XXE.

Linux example:

~$ XXE_GUI=my_gui.xxe_gui xxe &

More info in XMLmind XML Editor - Customizing the User Interface.

XXE_PREFS_DIRRelative or absolute filename of a directory. A relative filename is relative to the current working directory.

Specifies a custom user preferences directory. This directory is created if it does not already exist.

Linux example:

~$ XXE_PREFS_DIR=test xxe &


[39] This is the case only with XMLEditor.app, the application bundle contained in the .dmg distribution. If you are a local guru or a consultant you may prefer to download and install the xxe-*.zip or xxe-*.tar.gz distribution rather than the xxe-*.dmg distribution.

After unzipping this archive in a directory of your choice, XMLmind XML Editor may be started using the XXE_install_dir/bin/xxe shell script. Unlike XMLEditor.app which leverages Apple's Java™ launcher, the xxe shell script makes it easy working with environment variables such as XXE_GUI, XXE_ADDON_PATH, etc.