在所有 Unix 和 类Unix系统中, 每个进程都有其各自的环境变量设置。 缺省情况下, 当一个进程被创建时， 除了创建过程中的明确更改外，它继承了其父进程的绝大部分环境设置。 在API层级上, 使用fork和exec函数进行变量设置。或利用bashshell文档, 使用特殊的命令调用来改变环境变量：通过env 间接替代或者使用ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=VALUE <command> 标识. 所有的Unix操作系统 以及DOS 和Microsoft Windows 都是用环境变量，但是它们使用不同的环境变量名称。我们可以通过运行进程来访问环境变量的值。环境变量的例子包括：

%CD%

This pseudo-variable expands to the current directory equivalent to the output of the command CD when called without arguments. While a long filename can be returned under CMD.EXE depending on the current directory, the fact that the current directory will always be in 8.3 format under COMMAND.COM will cause it to return a short filename under COMMAND.COM, even when COMMAND internally calls CMD.

%CMDCMDLINE%

This pseudo-variable expands to the original startup parameters of CMD.EXE, f.e. "C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe". Under Windows' COMMAND.COM, this may return something like "C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c ..." due to the fact that COMMAND.COM calls CMD.EXE internally.

%CMDEXTVERSION%

This pseudo-variable expands to the version of the command-line extensions of CMD.EXE, if enabled (e.g. "1" under Windows NT, "2" under Windows 2000 and Windows XP).

%DATE%

This pseudo-variable expands to the current date. The date is displayed according to the current user's date format preferences.

%ERRORLEVEL%

This pseudo-variable expands to the last set error level, a value between "0" and "255" (without leading zeros). External commands and some internal commands set error levels upon execution. See also the identically named pseudo-variable %ERRORLEVEL% under DR-DOS and the IF ERRORLEVEL command.

%RANDOM%

This pseudo-variable returns a random number between "0" and "32767".

%TIME%

This pseudo-variable returns the current time. The time is displayed according to the current user's time format preferences. If the %TIME% and %DATE% variables are both used, it is important to read them both in this particular order in rapid succession in order to avoid midnight-rollover problems.