Environment variables

PROJ can be controlled by setting environment variables. Most users will have a use for the PROJ_DATA.

On UNIX systems environment variables can be set for a shell-session with:

$ export VAR="some variable"

or it can be set for just one command line call:

$ VAR="some variable" ./cmd

Environment variables on UNIX are usually removed with the unset command:

$ unset VAR

On windows systems environment variables can be set in the command line with:

> set VAR="some variable"

VAR will be available for the entire session, unless it is unset. This is done by setting the variable with no content:

> set VAR=
PROJ_DATA

Prior to PROJ 9.1, this environment variable was called PROJ_LIB. This older name is still supported in PROJ 9.1 as a fallback, but support for it may be removed in future release.

The location of PROJ resource files.

Starting with PROJ 6, multiple directories can be specified. On Unix, they should be separated by the colon (:) character. on Windows, by the semi-colon (;) character.

PROJ is hardcoded to look for resource files in other locations as well, amongst those are the installation directory (usually share/proj under the PROJ installation root) and the current folder.

You can also set the location of the resource files using proj_context_set_search_paths() in the proj.h API header.

Changed in version 6.1.0: Starting with PROJ version 6.1.0, the paths set by proj_context_set_search_paths() will have priority over the PROJ_DATA to allow for multiple versions of PROJ resource files on your system without conflicting.

PROJ_AUX_DB

Added in version 8.1.0.

To set the path to one or several auxiliary SQLite3 databases of structure identical to the main proj.db database and that can contain additional object (CRS, transformation, ...) definitions. If several paths are provided, they must be separated by the colon (:) character on Unix, and on Windows, by the semi-colon (;) character.

PROJ_DEBUG

Set the debug level of PROJ.

The following levels are available: - 0: no message. - 1: error messages only (default). - 2: same as 1, with debug messages. - 3: same as 2, with verbose messages. - 4: same as 3, with very verbose messages.

Starting with PROJ 9.3, ON can be used as an alias for 2, and OFF as an alias for 1.

PROJ_NETWORK

Added in version 7.0.0.

If set to ON, enable the capability to use remote grids stored on CDN (Content Delivery Network) storage, when grids are not available locally. Alternatively, the proj_context_set_enable_network() function can be used.

PROJ_NETWORK_ENDPOINT

Added in version 7.0.0.

Define the endpoint of the CDN storage. Normally defined through the proj.ini configuration file locale in PROJ_DATA. Alternatively, the proj_context_set_url_endpoint() function can be used.

PROJ_CURL_CA_BUNDLE

Added in version 7.2.0.

Define a custom path to the CA Bundle file. This can be useful if curl and PROJ_NETWORK are enabled. Alternatively, the proj_curl_set_ca_bundle_path() function can be used.