xref: /freebsd/share/man/man3/assert.3 (revision fcb560670601b2a4d87bb31d7531c8dcc37ee71b)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1991, 1993
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
13.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
14.\"    without specific prior written permission.
15.\"
16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
26.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
27.\"
28.\"     @(#)assert.3	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/9/93
29.\" $FreeBSD$
30.\"
31.Dd January 26, 1999
32.Dt ASSERT 3
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm assert
36.Nd expression verification macro
37.Sh SYNOPSIS
38.In assert.h
39.Fn assert expression
40.Sh DESCRIPTION
41The
42.Fn assert
43macro tests the given
44.Ar expression
45and if it is false,
46the calling process is terminated.
47A
48diagnostic message is written to
49.Dv stderr
50and the function
51.Xr abort 3
52is called, effectively terminating the program.
53.Pp
54If
55.Ar expression
56is true,
57the
58.Fn assert
59macro does nothing.
60.Pp
61The
62.Fn assert
63macro
64may be removed at compile time by defining
65.Dv NDEBUG
66as a macro
67(e.g., by using the
68.Xr cc 1
69option
70.Fl D Ns Dv NDEBUG ) .
71.Sh EXAMPLES
72The assertion:
73.Pp
74.Dl "assert(1 == 0);"
75.Pp
76generates a diagnostic message similar to the following:
77.Pp
78.Dl "Assertion failed: (1 == 0), function main, file assertion.c, line 100."
79.Sh SEE ALSO
80.Xr abort 3
81.Sh STANDARDS
82The
83.Fn assert
84macro conforms to
85.St -isoC-99 .
86.Sh HISTORY
87An
88.Nm
89macro appeared in
90.At v6 .
91