<!ELEMENT variable       (#PCDATA)>
<!ATTLIST variable
          name           CDATA #REQUIRED
          mode           CDATA #IMPLIED>

This element occurs in : Element: <environment>

The element variable allows you to add a variable definition to the system environment.

The name of the variable is given by the attribute name of the element.

The value of the variable is given by the textual content of the element.

The attribute mode can take the value "append", in which case the content of the element is appended to the value of the environment variable

<stage>
        <stageinfo>
                <base>/usr/src/gzip.1.2.4a</base>
                <environment>
                        <variable name="GCCFLAGS">-O2</variable>
                        <variable name="PATH" mode="append">:/opt/foo</variable>
                </environment>
        </stageinfo>

        <configure />

        <make />

        <make>
                <param>install</param>
        </make>
</stage>

The equivalent bash script is :

echo Stage

export GCCFLAGS=-O2
export PATH=${PATH}:/opt/foo
echo Executing configure
cd /usr/src/gzip.1.2.4a
./configure

echo Executing make
cd /usr/src/gzip.1.2.4a
make

echo Executing make
cd /usr/src/gzip.1.2.4a
make install

echo Exiting stage