Clarification on the node DEBUG example

[StingyJack]

To see what the engine is doing under the hood, debug output can be turned on via:

Node
DEBUG=json-rules-engine

Is this a command line parameter, an environment variable, etc?

[UncleSamSwiss]

See here:
https://github.com/CacheControl/json-rules-engine/blob/master/src/debug.js

If you are using Node.js, then "json-rules-engine" needs to be in an environment variable called DEBUG. You may also add other stuff to the same environment variable (e.g. if you are using the debug package in your application).

[StingyJack]

@UncleSamSwiss - Thanks. Is using DEBUG like this this a common approach for nodejs programs? I've always tried to avoid ev's with generic names like that (or CONFIGURATION, PLATFORM, etc.) and used things like MY_PROGRAM_NAME_ENABLE_DEBUG, etc

[UncleSamSwiss]

Is using DEBUG like this this a common approach for nodejs programs?

No it isn't common and I would probably never use it this way - except for DEBUG.

First of all, the debug library and also json-rules-engine only check if a certain substring is in the variable.

And second: except when containerized I would never change my system environment variables, but only prepend it to the execution of the command. This way the environment variable is only valid for the command itself.