texinode(Files)(Shell Grammar)(Invocation)(Top)
chapter(Files)
sect(Startup/Shutdown Files)
cindex(files, startup)
cindex(startup files)
cindex(files, shutdown)
cindex(shutdown files)
pindex(RCS, use of)
pindex(GLOBAL_RCS, use of)
pindex(NO_RCS, use of)
pindex(NO_GLOBAL_RCS, use of)
vindex(ZDOTDIR, use of)
cindex(zshenv)
Commands are first read from tt(/etc/zsh/zshenv); this cannot be overridden.
Subsequent behaviour is modified by the tt(RCS) and
tt(GLOBAL_RCS) options; the former affects all startup files, while the
second only affects those in the tt(/etc) directory.  If one of the options
is unset at any point, any subsequent startup file+LPAR()s+RPAR()
of the corresponding
type will not be read.  It is also possible for a file in tt($ZDOTDIR) to
re-enable tt(GLOBAL_RCS). Both tt(RCS) and tt(GLOBAL_RCS) are set by
default.

Commands are then read from tt($ZDOTDIR/.zshenv).
pindex(LOGIN, use of)
cindex(zprofile)
If the shell is a login shell, commands
are read from tt(/etc/zsh/zprofile) and then tt($ZDOTDIR/.zprofile).
cindex(zshrc)
Then, if the shell is interactive,
commands are read from tt(/etc/zsh/zshrc) and then tt($ZDOTDIR/.zshrc).
cindex(zlogin)
Finally, if the shell is a login shell, tt(/etc/zsh/zlogin) and
tt($ZDOTDIR/.zlogin) are read.

cindex(zlogout)
When a login shell exits, the files tt($ZDOTDIR/.zlogout) and then
tt(/etc/zsh/zlogout) are read.  This happens with either an explicit exit
via the tt(exit) or tt(logout) commands, or an implicit exit by reading
end-of-file from the terminal.  However, if the shell terminates due
to tt(exec)'ing another process, the logout files are not read.
These are also affected by the tt(RCS) and tt(GLOBAL_RCS) options.
Note also that the tt(RCS) option affects the saving of history files,
i.e. if tt(RCS) is unset when the shell exits, no history file will be
saved.

vindex(HOME, use of)
If tt(ZDOTDIR) is unset, tt(HOME) is used instead.
Those files listed above as being in tt(/etc) may be in another
directory, depending on the installation.

As tt(/etc/zsh/zshenv) is run for all instances of zsh, it is important that
it be kept as small as possible.  In particular, it is a good idea to
put code that does not need to be run for every single shell behind
a test of the form `tt(if [[ -o rcs ]]; then ...)' so that it will not
be executed when zsh is invoked with the `tt(-f)' option.
ifnzman(includefile(Zsh/filelist.yo))\x01

Any of these files may be pre-compiled with the tt(zcompile) builtin
command (\
ifzman(\
see zmanref(zshbuiltins)\
)\
ifnzman(\
noderef(Shell Builtin Commands)\
)\
).  If a compiled file exists (named for the original file plus the
tt(.zwc) extension) and it is newer than the original file, the compiled
file will be used instead.