NAME

       pmGetConfig - return Performance Co-Pilot configuration variable

C SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcp/pmapi.h>
       char *pmGetConfig(const char *variable);

       #include <pcp/impl.h>
       char *__pmGetAPIConfig(const char *feature);

       cc ... -lpcp

DESCRIPTION

       The  pmGetConfig  function searches for variable first in the environment and then, if not
       found, in the Performance Co-Pilot (PCP) configuration file and returns the string result.
       If variable is not already in the environment, it is added with a call to putenv(3) before
       returning.

       The default location of the PCP configuration  file  is  /etc/pcp.conf  but  this  may  be
       changed  by  setting  PCP_CONF  in  the  environment  to  a  new location, as described in
       pcp.conf(5).

       The internal __pmGetAPIConfig function reports on features of the PCP library.  It can  be
       used to query support for multi-threading, security extensions, and other features.

       The pmconfig(1) utility provides command line access to both of these interfaces, and also
       provides a mechanism for listing all available  variables  and  features  that  are  valid
       arguments to these routines.

RETURN VALUE

       If variable is not found in either the environment nor the PCP configuration file then the
       return value is an empty string.  If the PCP configuration file is not found then a  fatal
       error  message  is printed and the process will exit(2) - although this sounds drastic, it
       is the only course of action  available  because  the  PCP  configuration/installation  is
       fatally flawed.

       If the pmGetConfig function returns a non-empty string, the returned value points into the
       environment and so changing it is a bad idea.  This function returns the same type as  the
       getenv(3) function (which should probably be a const char *).

       The  __pmGetAPIConfig  routine  on  the  other  hand returns NULL on failure to lookup the
       requested feature.  It does not modify the environment, and returns a pointer to a  static
       read-only string which also should not be modified or freed by the caller.

PCP ENVIRONMENT

       Environment variables with the prefix PCP_ are used to parameterize the file and directory
       names used by PCP.  On each installation, the file /etc/pcp.conf contains the local values
       for  these  variables.   The  $PCP_CONF  variable  may  be  used to specify an alternative
       configuration file, as described in  pcp.conf(5).   Values  for  these  variables  may  be
       obtained programmatically using the pmGetConfig(3) function.

SEE ALSO

       PCPIntro(1),   pmconfig(1),   exit(2),   PMAPI(3),  getenv(3C),  putenv(3C),  pcp.conf(5),
       pcp.env(5) and environ(5).