How do I access an OS environment variable from SQL?

[VolkerBarth]

Say, I want to access the value of the Windows %TEMP% setting in order to write output to a particular directory...

Just as "cross documentation" - as it has been dealt with as a side effect of this question dealing witb DBISQL.

[VolkerBarth]

AFAIK, there doesn't seem to be a builtin function, but here are some suggestions for Windows:

• Using xp_cmdshell and xp_read_file
• Using an external function that wraps the GetEnvironmentVariable() Windows API

If you know other, better, smarter, easier solutions - please add them...