java - Using environment variables in "VM options" and "Program arguments"

Question

In my project configuration in IDEA, I have the following text fields:

I would like to define some environment variables, and refer to them in the fields "VM options" and "Program arguments".

I tried with the following definitions for environment variables:

MY_FOLDER=/some/random/path
MY_ARGUMENT=2

and then in "VM options" I entered:

-Dfoo=$MY_FOLDER

and in program arguments I entered

$MY_ARGUMENT foo bar

However, the environment variables do not seem to be resolved prior to calling my class, i.e. if I inspect args[0] in Java, it holds the string value $MY_ARGUMENT, not 2.

Why? and how can I fix this?

Answer 1

You can access environment variables using the brace-enclosed environment variable syntax. Example:

VM options: -Dfoo=${MY_ENV_VAR}

MY_ENV_VAR environment variable will be expanded properly.

Update: tested in IntelliJ IDEA 2017.1.2 and still working.