Trying to set a shell var from a perl script

tprizler has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi all,

I am writing a script in perl. I am trying to set a new local var in the script.

The thing is after the script ends the var is no longer set.

I tried doing this using an external shell script that sets the var but still it didn't worked for me.

The Perl script is:

#/usr/bin/perl -w 
print `. changeShell.sh "/usr/bin"`;
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The shell script is:

#!/usr/bin/bash 
CLASS_BLB=$1 
export CLASS_BLB
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After invoking the perl script the var CLASS_BLB is not set.. Any idea?? Thanks!

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Re: Trying to set a shell var from a perl script by JavaFan (Canon) on Aug 18, 2010 at 12:27 UTC
The variable is set. The problem you are facing is that you are setting the variable in a different process. In Unix, if process A calls process B, process B cannot set of modify the environment variables of A. This is generally considered to be a feature (as allowing B to modify the environment of A would make A vulnerable to all kinds of security problems). AFAIK, this is true on Windows as well. I vaguely remember the faq mentioning it would be possible under VMS, but if it ever did, it hasn't mentioned this for at least a decade.	[reply]
Re: Trying to set a shell var from a perl script by Corion (Patriarch) on Aug 18, 2010 at 12:03 UTC
You cannot set a shell variable from a Perl script.	[reply]
Re: Trying to set a shell var from a perl script by choroba (Cardinal) on Aug 19, 2010 at 16:03 UTC
See also pass perl variable to shell script.	[reply]