+#hmmm: make this support multiple vars as parameters.
+# replaces a specific environment variable with a dos approved equivalent.
+function dossify_environment_variable()
+{
+ local var="$1"; shift
+
+#cygpath doesn't handle multiple path variables properly and otherwise operates only on one path element.
+## new_value="$(cygpath -p -d ${!var})"
+## eval "export $var=\"$new_value\""
+##echo "hey now the var is '${!var}'"
+
+ old_value="${!var}"
+#echo "var is '$var' and old value is '$old_value'"
+ if [[ ! "$old_value" =~ \/cygdrive\/ ]]; then
+#echo didnt have a cygdrive in it: $old_value
+ return 0
+#hmmm: want this to continue in multi parm version.
+ fi
+
+ # replace single back-slashes with double ones.
+ local new_value="$(unix_to_dos_path "${old_value}")"
+
+ # remove any quote characters in the value.
+ new_value="${new_value//\"/}"
+
+ eval "export $var=\"$new_value\""
+ echo "new value established: $var='${!var}'"
+}
+
+# for a windows build, this will replace any forward slashes
+# and other cygwin notation with the appropriate dos style paths.