$PATH variable not properly set in gvim/MacVim when it is opened from the finder

Question

I am using MacVim (basically gvim for the mac).

If I open macvim from the command line then my $PATH variable will be properly set.

If I open macvim via point and click with the finder, the $PATH variable will NOT be properly set.

Can anyone give me some insight?

Note: I know at least part of my path is set in ~/.bashrc, but I am not sure where the rest of it is set.

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Examples:

If I open macvim from the terminal:

% gvim basic.tex 

And then in MacVim I go:

:!echo $PATH
/opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/sw/bin:/sw/sbin:/Applications/MacVim.app/Contents/M
acOS:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin:/usr/X11R6/bin 

This is the right path.

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When I open the file with the mouse (in finder)

When I go:

:!echo $PATH
/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin  

It gives me a little path. Why?

Answer 1

The place to set environment variables on the Mac for GUI applications (those started via loginwindow, the Finder, etc.) is ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist

Alternately in MacVim you can choose to launch vim processes in a login-shell (look in the preferences).

For more info see this post.

Answer 2

The difference in the PATHs probably has something to do with the difference between a login shell (logging in) and a non-login shell (bringing up a console).

From the bash man page:

When bash is invoked as an interactive login shell ... it looks for ~/.bash_profile...

When an interactive shell that is not a login shell is started, bash reads and executes commands from /etc/bash.bashrc and ~/.bashrc...

What I did to get around this issue was to add the following code to my ~/.bash_profile, telling it to source my ~/.bashrc if it exists:

if [ -f ~/.bashrc ]; then
    . ~/.bashrc
fi