global-symbol-value

Arguments: sym

This function returns two values. The first is the global value for the special variable named by the symbol sym, ignoring any bindings on the current stack-group (unix) or thread (windows) and the second is t if the variable has a value (in the sense of cl:boundp). Otherwise the first value will be nil and the second will be the symbol :unbound. (Returning two values allows distinguishing between bound with value nil and unbound. Note that this function does not error if the symbol has no global value.)

This function may be setf. This is not a normal thing to do (except with setq-default usually as part of initialization) and is intended only for obscure system-hacking purposes. This function is intended for use by debuggers and other systems and is not appropriate for normal programming.

The macro setq-default sets the global-symbol-value.

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This page was not revised from the 8.2 page.
Created 2012.5.30.