Simon J. Gerraty writes:
> >   ``Add this directory iff it's not already in the path''
> 
> Very useful.  My /etc/profile has had an add_path() function for
> years.  It does not check for the directory being in PATH because in
> /etc/profile you _know_... the add_path() and friends used in
> /etc/ksh.kshrc though do test for presence in PATH.

There exists package called Modules. It does what your asking but in a
different manner than your approaching it. The idea behind Modules was that
from a sysadmin's standpoint, having a set of configuration files available
for users to "source" makes the setup of new paths easier to maintain.

See ftp://ftp.eng.auburn.edu/pub/Modules/ for more information on it.

Ron