search_path

directory pathnames

specifies a list of directories to search, in the order listed, for object or file retrieval. these directories, along with the current (working) directory and any directories specified in the search.profile (see configuration-file option search_path_file) make up pro/engineerM-^Rs search path.

the directory path names can be relative or absolute. you can use special characters, such as ".." in unix and windows (nt and 95), in specifying a relative path name.

relative path names are initially resolved relative to the startup directory. if you subsequently reload the configuration file, the system re-evaluates the relative path names relative to the current (working) directory and appends the new directories (if any) to the search path (the previous path remains in place).

it is better, therefore, to specify the full path names always (in other words, from root) so as to avoid problems if you change working directories or use the same configuration file in another start-up directory.

the option can have several path names on a single line, separated by commas, semicolons or spaces. whichever delimiter you choose to use, you must then use consistently. the option can appear any number of times in the configuration file, so it is not necessary to have more than one path name to a line. if objects with the same name are stored in more than one search-path directory, the system retrieves the first one that it finds, regardless of which object is the most recent.

search paths may also include previously-defined environment variables. this is done by preceding the variable with $in the search path definition. for example, the environment variable obj_typecan be used as follows:

search_path /partlib/$obj_type/objs

when you are defining a search path in the windows nt operating system, you must precede the backslash character with another formatting character.