gawk: AWKLIBPATH Variable

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1 2.5.2 The 'AWKLIBPATH' Environment Variable
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1 
1 The 'AWKLIBPATH' environment variable is similar to the 'AWKPATH'
1 variable, but it is used to search for loadable extensions (stored as
1 system shared libraries) specified with the '-l' option rather than for
1 source files.  If the extension is not found, the path is searched again
1 after adding the appropriate shared library suffix for the platform.
1 For example, on GNU/Linux systems, the suffix '.so' is used.  The search
1 path specified is also used for extensions loaded via the '@load'
1 keyword (⇒Loading Shared Libraries).
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1    If 'AWKLIBPATH' does not exist in the environment, or if it has an
1 empty value, 'gawk' uses a default path; this is typically
1 '/usr/local/lib/gawk', although it can vary depending upon how 'gawk'
1 was built.
1 
1    ⇒Shell Startup Files, for information on functions that help
1 to manipulate the 'AWKLIBPATH' variable.
1 
1    'gawk' places the value of the search path that it used into
1 'ENVIRON["AWKLIBPATH"]'.  This provides access to the actual search path
1 value from within an 'awk' program.
1 
1    Although you can change 'ENVIRON["AWKLIBPATH"]' within your 'awk'
1 program, this has no effect on the running program's behavior.  This
1 makes sense: the 'AWKLIBPATH' environment variable is used to find any
1 requested extensions, and they are loaded before the program starts to
1 run.  Once your program is running, all the extensions have been found,
1 and 'gawk' no longer needs to use 'AWKLIBPATH'.
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