Provided by: explain_0.52.D002-1_amd64 
NAME
explain_system - explain system(3) errors
SYNOPSIS
#include <libexplain/system.h>
const char *explain_system(const char *command);
const char *explain_errno_system(int errnum, const char *command);
void explain_message_system(char *message, int message_size, const char *command);
void explain_message_errno_system(char *message, int message_size, int errnum, const char
*command);
DESCRIPTION
These functions may be used to obtain explanations for errors returned by the system(3)
system call.
explain_system
const char *explain_system(const char *command);
The explain_system function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by the
system(3) system call. The least the message will contain is the value of
strerror(errno), but usually it will do much better, and indicate the underlying cause in
more detail.
The errno global variable will be used to obtain the error value to be decoded.
This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:
if (system(command) < 0)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_system(command));
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
command The original command, exactly as passed to the system(3) system call.
Returns:
The message explaining the error. This message buffer is shared by all libexplain
functions which do not supply a buffer in their argument list. This will be
overwritten by the next call to any libexplain function which shares this buffer,
including other threads.
Note: This function is not thread safe, because it shares a return buffer across all
threads, and many other functions in this library.
explain_errno_system
const char *explain_errno_system(int errnum, const char *command);
The explain_errno_system function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by
the system(3) system call. The least the message will contain is the value of
strerror(errnum), but usually it will do much better, and indicate the underlying cause in
more detail.
This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:
if (system(command) < 0)
{
int err = errno;
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_errno_system(err, command));
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
errnum The error value to be decoded, usually obtained from the errno global variable
just before this function is called. This is necessary if you need to call any
code between the system call to be explained and this function, because many libc
functions will alter the value of errno.
command The original command, exactly as passed to the system(3) system call.
Returns:
The message explaining the error. This message buffer is shared by all libexplain
functions which do not supply a buffer in their argument list. This will be
overwritten by the next call to any libexplain function which shares this buffer,
including other threads.
Note: This function is not thread safe, because it shares a return buffer across all
threads, and many other functions in this library.
explain_message_system
void explain_message_system(char *message, int message_size, const char *command);
The explain_message_system function may be used to obtain an explanation of an error
returned by the system(3) system call. The least the message will contain is the value of
strerror(errno), but usually it will do much better, and indicate the underlying cause in
more detail.
The errno global variable will be used to obtain the error value to be decoded.
This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:
if (system(command) < 0)
{
char message[3000];
explain_message_system(message, sizeof(message), command);
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
message The location in which to store the returned message. If a suitable message return
buffer is supplied, this function is thread safe.
message_size
The size in bytes of the location in which to store the returned message.
command The original command, exactly as passed to the system(3) system call.
explain_message_errno_system
void explain_message_errno_system(char *message, int message_size, int errnum, const char
*command);
The explain_message_errno_system function may be used to obtain an explanation of an error
returned by the system(3) system call. The least the message will contain is the value of
strerror(errnum), but usually it will do much better, and indicate the underlying cause in
more detail.
This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:
if (system(command) < 0)
{
int err = errno;
char message[3000];
explain_message_errno_system(message, sizeof(message), err, command);
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
message The location in which to store the returned message. If a suitable message return
buffer is supplied, this function is thread safe.
message_size
The size in bytes of the location in which to store the returned message.
errnum The error value to be decoded, usually obtained from the errno global variable
just before this function is called. This is necessary if you need to call any
code between the system call to be explained and this function, because many libc
functions will alter the value of errno.
command The original command, exactly as passed to the system(3) system call.
SEE ALSO
system(3)
execute a shell command
explain_system_or_die(3)
execute a shell command and report errors
COPYRIGHT
libexplain version 0.52
Copyright (C) 2008 Peter Miller
explain_system(3)