If this environment variable is set, it should contain one or more file names for Java .jar files or Java class directories. If there is more than one, they should be concatenated into a single string separated by ; (on Windows) or : (on Linux). These classes are added to Java's classpath when the Java engine is started. Setting this environment variable might be more convenient than calling .JavaAttachClassPath if you know the classes you want to load before starting Java.

If this environment variable is set to TRUE, status information is printed while the terrJava package is being loaded. This might print out useful information if errors occur when loading this package.

Setting this environment variable to TRUE also prints the arguments passed to the Java engine on startup (which can be affected by the following environment variable).

If this environment variable is specified, it should contain a string of options to use when starting the Java engine. For example, the value -Xmx1000m specifies a maximum Java memory size of 1GB.

One use for JAVA_OPTIONS is to start the Java engine so that it can be debugged remotely. For example, suppose you set JAVA_OPTIONS to -Xdebug -Xrunjdwp:transport=dt_socket,address=4444,server=y,suspend=n

When the Java engine is started, it creates a server listening for connections from a debugger on port 4444. A Java debugger (like Eclipse) could connect remotely to the Java engine and set breakpoints in the Java code.