+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// env vars
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+bool wxGetEnv(const wxString& var, wxString *value)
+{
+ // first get the size of the buffer
+ DWORD dwRet = ::GetEnvironmentVariable(var, NULL, 0);
+ if ( !dwRet )
+ {
+ // this means that there is no such variable
+ return FALSE;
+ }
+
+ if ( value )
+ {
+ (void)::GetEnvironmentVariable(var, value->GetWriteBuf(dwRet), dwRet);
+ value->UngetWriteBuf();
+ }
+
+ return TRUE;
+}
+