SETENV: Bad : modifier in $ ($)

Question

I am using the tcsh terminal in Linux. In the other terminal I normally used I set the path to some license file as follows:

  export PATH="$PATH:$MODEL_TECH"

Tcsh shell does not recognise this command so I tried the following:

  setenv PATH "$PATH:$MODEL_TECH"
  set PATH "$PATH:$MODEL_TECH"
  setenv PATH=("$PATH:$MODEL_TECH")

But then I always get the following error:

Bad : modifier in $ ($).

What be also great if someone could help me here out quickly, tried quite a few combinations but nothing works.

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 07 '11 at 11:18

Drop the =

setenv LICENSE_FILE "/usr/local/softwarex/license.dat"

From the man page for tcsh:

   setenv [name [value]]

   Without  arguments, prints the names and values of all environ‐
   ment variables.  Given name, sets the environment variable name
   to value or, without value, to the null string.

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 07 '11 at 11:44

5

Put curly braces around the variable names:

setenv PATH ${PATH}:${foo}

or use this form:

set path = ($path $foo)

answered Mar 07 '11 at 11:44

Dennis Williamson

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Right. csh/tcsh uses the `:` character for modifiers; for example `$var:t` gives you the root of the filename `$var` (by deleting the `.whatever` extension). If you write `"$PATH:$MODEL_TECH"` the shell thinks the '$' is part of a modifier for $PATH (which it doesn't recognize). The curly braces separate the name from the following `':'`. The `set path = ...` form sets the corresponding shell variable `$path`, which is tied to the environment variable `$PATH`. `man tcsh` for more information. – Keith Thompson Jul 30 '11 at 20:06
Although not stated, an explicit string will work as well e.g. `setenv PATH ${PATH}:/foo/bar` – Samuel Harmer Jul 19 '13 at 07:53

Hank Gay · Answer 3 · 2011-03-07T14:28:10.193

2

Try setenv LICENSE_FILE /usr/local/softwarex/license.dat. This should be documented in the man page somewhere on your system, so try reading up in man tcsh; tcsh is a very different beast from bash and friends. If the relevant man page isn't available on your system for some reason, here's the first man tcsh I found.

edited Mar 07 '11 at 14:28

answered Mar 07 '11 at 11:19

Hank Gay

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Great, that works fine but it seems there are still problems when I wanna set a path, I added this to my post. I get then a bad modifier error. – reinhard Mar 07 '11 at 11:28
tcsh syntax for setting the PATH is different than sh variants. Do you have a good reason for using tcsh? Unless there is a *very* compelling reason, it's probably better to continue using an sh-variant. – William Pursell Mar 07 '11 at 11:31
@reinhard Is `$MODEL_TECH` set? – Hank Gay Mar 07 '11 at 14:29

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 14 '14 at 18:56

0

On a tcsh shell the path or any environment variable can be appended as below:

setenv PATH $PATH":$NEWPATH"

answered May 14 '14 at 18:56

Rams

1

score -1 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 30 '15 at 13:41

-1

If it's not working use this:

setenv PATH ${PATH}:/.../../../

edited Apr 30 '15 at 13:41

eebbesen

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answered Apr 30 '15 at 13:22

katy

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SETENV: Bad : modifier in $ ($)

5 Answers5