xref: /freebsd/contrib/com_err/com_err.3 (revision 0b57cec536236d46e3dba9bd041533462f33dbb7)
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32.\" $Id$
33.\"
34.\" This manpage was contributed by Gregory McGarry.
35.\"
36.Dd July  7, 2005
37.Dt COM_ERR 3
38.Os
39.Sh NAME
40.Nm com_err ,
41.Nm com_err_va ,
42.Nm error_message ,
43.Nm error_table_name ,
44.Nm init_error_table ,
45.Nm set_com_err_hook ,
46.Nm reset_com_err_hook ,
47.Nm add_to_error_table ,
48.Nm initialize_error_table_r
49.Nm free_error_table ,
50.Nm com_right
51.Nd common error display library
52.Sh LIBRARY
53Common Error Library (libcom_err, -lcom_err)
54.Sh SYNOPSIS
55.Fd #include <stdio.h>
56.Fd #include <stdarg.h>
57.Fd #include <com_err.h>
58.Fd #include \&"XXX_err.h\&"
59.Pp
60typedef void (*errf)(const char *, long, const char *, ...);
61.Ft void
62.Fn com_err "const char *whoami" "long code" "const char *format" "..."
63.Ft void
64.Fn com_err_va "const char *whoami" "long code" "const char *format" "..."
65.Ft const char *
66.Fn error_message "long code"
67.Ft const char *
68.Fn error_table_name "int num"
69.Ft int
70.Fn init_error_table "const char **msgs" "long base" "int count"
71.Ft errf
72.Fn set_com_err_hook "errf func"
73.Ft errf
74.Fn reset_com_err_hook ""
75.Ft void
76.Fn add_to_error_table "struct et_list *new_table"
77.Ft void
78.Fn initialize_error_table_r "struct et_list **et_list" "const char **msgs" "int base" "long count"
79.Ft void
80.Fn free_error_table "struct et_list *"
81.Ft const char *
82.Fn com_right "struct et_list *list" long code"
83.Sh DESCRIPTION
84The
85.Nm
86library provides a common error-reporting mechanism for defining and
87accessing error codes and descriptions for application software
88packages.  Error descriptions are defined in a table and error codes
89are used to index the table.  The error table, the descriptions and
90the error codes are generated using
91.Xr compile_et 1 .
92.Pp
93The error table is registered with the
94.Nm
95library by calling its initialisation function defined in its header
96file.  The initialisation function is generally defined as
97.Fn initialize_<name>_error_table ,
98where
99.Em name
100is the name of the error table.
101.Pp
102If a thread-safe version of the library is needed
103.Fn initialize_<name>_error_table_r
104that internally calls
105.Fn initialize_error_table_r
106instead be used.
107.Pp
108Any variable which is to contain an error code should be declared
109.Em <name>_error_number
110where
111.Em name
112is the name of the error table.
113.Sh FUNCTIONS
114The following functions are available to the application developer:
115.Bl -tag -width compact
116.It Fn com_err "whoami" "code" "format" "..."
117Displays an error message on standard error composed of the
118.Fa whoami
119string, which should specify the program name, followed by an error
120message generated from
121.Fa code ,
122and a string produced using the
123.Xr printf 3
124.Fa format
125string and any following arguments.  If
126.Fa format
127is NULL, the formatted message will not be
128printed.  The argument
129.Fa format
130may not be omitted.
131.It Fn com_err_va "whoami" "code" "format" "va_list args"
132This routine provides an interface, equivalent to
133.Fn com_err ,
134which may be used by higher-level variadic functions (functions which
135accept variable numbers of arguments).
136.It Fn error_message "code"
137Returns the character string error message associate with
138.Fa code .
139If
140.Fa code is associated with an unknown error table, or if
141.Fa code
142is associated with a known error table but is not in the table, a
143string of the form `Unknown code XXXX NN' is returned, where XXXX is
144the error table name produced by reversing the compaction performed on
145the error table number implied by that error code, and NN is the
146offset from that base value.
147.Pp
148Although this routine is available for use when needed, its use should
149be left to circumstances which render
150.Fn com_err
151unusable.
152.Pp
153.Fn com_right
154returns the error string just like
155.Fa com_err
156but in a thread-safe way.
157.Pp
158.It Fn error_table_name "num"
159Convert a machine-independent error table number
160.Fa num
161into an error table name.
162.It Fn init_error_table "msgs" "base" "count"
163Initialise the internal error table with the array of character string
164error messages in
165.Fa msgs
166of length
167.Fa count .
168The error codes are assigned incrementally from
169.Fa base .
170This function is useful for using the error-reporting mechanism with
171custom error tables that have not been generated with
172.Xr compile_et 1 .
173Although this routine is available for use when needed, its use should
174be restricted.
175.Pp
176.Fn initialize_error_table_r
177initialize the
178.Fa et_list
179in the same way as
180.Fn init_error_table ,
181but in a thread-safe way.
182.Pp
183.It Fn set_com_err_hook "func"
184Provides a hook into the
185.Nm
186library to allow the routine
187.Fa func
188to be dynamically substituted for
189.Fn com_err .
190After
191.Fn set_com_err_hook
192 has been called, calls to
193.Fn com_err
194will turn into calls to the new hook routine.  This function is
195intended to be used in daemons to use a routine which calls
196.Xr syslog 3 ,
197or in a window system application to pop up a dialogue box.
198.It Fn reset_com_err_hook ""
199Turns off the hook set in
200.Fn set_com_err_hook .
201.It Fn add_to_error_table "new_table"
202Add the error table, its messages strings and error codes in
203.Fa new_table
204to the internal error table.
205.El
206.Sh EXAMPLES
207The following is an example using the table defined in
208.Xr compile_et 1 :
209.Pp
210.Bd -literal
211	#include <stdio.h>
212	#include <stdarg.h>
213	#include <syslog.h>
214
215	#include "test_err.h"
216
217	void
218	hook(const char *whoami, long code,
219		const char *format, va_list args)
220	{
221		char buffer[BUFSIZ];
222		static int initialized = 0;
223
224		if (!initialized) {
225			openlog(whoami, LOG_NOWAIT, LOG_DAEMON);
226			initialized = 1;
227		}
228		vsprintf(buffer, format, args);
229		syslog(LOG_ERR, "%s %s", error_message(code), buffer);
230	}
231
232	int
233	main(int argc, char *argv[])
234	{
235		char *whoami = argv[0];
236
237		initialize_test_error_table();
238		com_err(whoami, TEST_INVAL, "before hook");
239		set_com_err_hook(hook);
240		com_err(whoami, TEST_IO, "after hook");
241		return (0);
242	}
243.Ed
244.Sh SEE ALSO
245.Xr compile_et 1
246