Our application uses a chain of dot .profile configuration files to create the environment variables that numerous ksh shell scripts use. (The .profile sources .profile.abc which sources .profile.xyz, and so on.)

The problem with this approach is that there is not one centralized file where all these configuration settings live. This method of setting the application configuration is causing endless problems. We have inherited this and are looking a "painless" solution due to all the scripts that require environment variables.

One suggestion was to create a ksh function to look up values from a configuration file and to use this function in all assignments in the ksh script. This would bypass having a multitude of environment variables.

Is there a solution where I could use Perl to centralize the configuration settings, but still provide the proper shell environment for older scripts? Right now we must source the .profile chain before running any scripts or middleware from the shell.

In reply to Sourcing Dot Profiles for Run-Time Application Configuration by hackdaddy

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