.\" Copyright (c) 1993 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. .\" .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions .\" are met: .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. .\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software .\" must display the following acknowledgement: .\" This product includes software developed by the University of .\" California, Berkeley and its contributors. .\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors .\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software .\" without specific prior written permission. .\" .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF .\" SUCH DAMAGE. .\" .\" From: @(#)err.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/9/93 .\" $FreeBSD: src/lib/libc/gen/err.3,v 1.18 2001/10/01 16:08:50 ru Exp $ .\" .Dd March 6, 1999 .Dt ERR 3 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm err , .Nm verr , .Nm errc , .Nm verrc , .Nm errx , .Nm verrx , .Nm warn , .Nm vwarn , .Nm warnc , .Nm vwarnc , .Nm warnx , .Nm vwarnx , .Nm err_set_exit , .Nm err_set_file .Nd formatted error messages .Sh LIBRARY .Lb libc .Sh SYNOPSIS .In err.h .Ft void .Fn err "int eval" "const char *fmt" "..." .Ft void .Fn err_set_exit "void (*exitf)(int)" .Ft void .Fn err_set_file "void *vfp" .Ft void .Fn errc "int eval" "int code" "const char *fmt" "..." .Ft void .Fn errx "int eval" "const char *fmt" "..." .Ft void .Fn warn "const char *fmt" "..." .Ft void .Fn warnc "int code" "const char *fmt" "..." .Ft void .Fn warnx "const char *fmt" "..." .In stdarg.h .Ft void .Fn verr "int eval" "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Ft void .Fn verrc "int eval" "int code" "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Ft void .Fn verrx "int eval" "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Ft void .Fn vwarn "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Ft void .Fn vwarnc "int code" "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Ft void .Fn vwarnx "const char *fmt" "va_list args" .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn err and .Fn warn family of functions display a formatted error message on the standard error output, or on another file specified using the .Fn err_set_file function. In all cases, the last component of the program name, a colon character, and a space are output. If the .Fa fmt argument is not NULL, the .Xr printf 3 -like formatted error message is output. The output is terminated by a newline character. .Pp The .Fn err , .Fn errc , .Fn verr , .Fn verrc , .Fn warn , .Fn warnc , .Fn vwarn , and .Fn vwarnc functions append an error message obtained from .Xr strerror 3 based on a code or the global variable .Va errno , preceded by another colon and space unless the .Fa fmt argument is .Dv NULL . .Pp In the case of the .Fn errc , .Fn verrc , .Fn warnc , and .Fn vwarnc functions, the .Fa code argument is used to look up the error message. .Pp The .Fn err , .Fn verr , .Fn warn , and .Fn vwarn functions use the global variable .Va errno to look up the error message. .Pp The .Fn errx and .Fn warnx functions do not append an error message. .Pp The .Fn err , .Fn verr , .Fn errc , .Fn verrc , .Fn errx , and .Fn verrx functions do not return, but exit with the value of the argument .Fa eval . The .Fn err_set_exit function can be used to specify a function which is called before .Xr exit 3 to perform any necessary cleanup; passing a null function pointer for .Va exitf resets the hook to do nothing. The .Fn err_set_file function sets the output stream used by the other functions. Its .Fa vfp argument must be either a pointer to an open stream (possibly already converted to void *) or a null pointer (in which case the output stream is set to standard error). .Sh EXAMPLES Display the current errno information string and exit: .Bd -literal -offset indent if ((p = malloc(size)) == NULL) err(1, NULL); if ((fd = open(file_name, O_RDONLY, 0)) == -1) err(1, "%s", file_name); .Ed .Pp Display an error message and exit: .Bd -literal -offset indent if (tm.tm_hour < START_TIME) errx(1, "too early, wait until %s", start_time_string); .Ed .Pp Warn of an error: .Bd -literal -offset indent if ((fd = open(raw_device, O_RDONLY, 0)) == -1) warnx("%s: %s: trying the block device", raw_device, strerror(errno)); if ((fd = open(block_device, O_RDONLY, 0)) == -1) err(1, "%s", block_device); .Ed .Pp Warn of an error without using the global variable .Va errno : .Bd -literal -offset indent error = my_function(); /* returns a value from */ if (error != 0) warnc(error, "my_function"); .Ed .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr exit 3 , .Xr printf 3 , .Xr strerror 3 .Sh HISTORY The .Fn err and .Fn warn functions first appeared in .Bx 4.4 . The .Fn err_set_exit and .Fn err_set_file functions first appeared in .Fx 2.1 . The .Fn errc and .Fn warnc functions first appeared in .Fx 3.0 .