[Koha] I need to add a path to @INC for KOHA, how?

[Andro Gagne]

Mr. Laurent,

         At 09:32 AM 1/3/06 +0100, Henri-Damien Laurent wrote:

>Normally,
>when using a koha script, you need to set two environment variables.
>PERL5LIB and KOHA_CONF
>KOHA_CONF contains the path to your koha.conf
>PERL5LIB the path to your koha directories/intranet/modules on a
>standard install.
>
>You can set them with export command as such :
>export KOHA_CONF=/path/to/koha.conf
>export PERL5LIB=/path/to/koha/intranet/modules
>And then you can launch your scripts.

         Thank you for your helpful reply.  I understand that the setting 
of these environment variables is necessary.  That makes sense to me, and I 
don't have any problem with it.  What I don't understand is why Mr. 
Jongepier and I are having this problem in the first place.  Either Koha is 
programmed to set these variables on its own when it is started up, or it 
isn't.  If it is supposed to set these variables when being started, why is 
it not doing so?  I believe I followed the installation instructions very 
faithfully, so I have reason to expect that Koha will start up properly and 
set the variables it needs to be set.  If Koha is not programmed to set 
these variables on its own when it is started up, clearly it is my 
responsibility to set these variables.  But if the latter is the case, why 
didn't the installation instructions tell me this and tell me how the 
variable setting needs to be done so that Koha's environment variables are 
set up properly when Koha is started up?  (I am referring to the 
installation instructions that were available at www.kohadocs.org last 
June.)  All I'm trying to do is to understand where the real problem lies 
so that, hopefully, I can fix the real problem--especially if I am the one 
who caused the problem in some way--rather than applying what seems like a 
Band-Aid and not understanding where things went wrong.  The Band-Aid 
approach probably will work for a while, but it is likely not to be as good 
a fix as fixing the underlying problem, especially as Koha gets upgraded 
over time.

         I really want to show the museum--and other organizations that 
cannot afford integrated library systems that have prices in the 5- or 
6-figure range--that Koha can do the job they need to be done.  If you can 
help me understand where the underlying problem is in regard to setting 
environment variables for Koha, I will appreciate it very much.  I would be 
glad to send any information needed about how I installed Koha to solve 
this issue.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Andro P. Gagné
P.O. Box 715
Canandaigua, NY 14424