The Bio-Formats libraries and programs are configured and built to use a set of search paths for different components. It should not be necessary to override these defaults. The bf command will be able to autodetect the installation directory configure paths on most platforms, and the Bio-Formats libraries are also able to determine the paths on most platforms so long as the library search path is configured correctly. However, the following environment variables may be used to override the defaults if this proves necessary:
BIOFORMATS_HOME
The root of the installation (if applicable). Setting this will allow the installation to be used in a location other than the one configured. It will also default all the following variables unless they are explicitly overridden individually. This is not useful if an absolute installation path has been configured (e.g. if using /usr/local).
These may be shared with other packages if configured to do so (e.g. if using /usr/local). See GNUInstallDirs for more details. Not all of these paths are currently used, but may be used in the future.
These are used only by Bio-Formats and are not shared with other packages. They are all subdirectories under the basic paths, above.