libexplain/kill.h File Reference

explain kill(2) errors More...

#include <libexplain/gcc_attributes.h>
#include <libexplain/large_file_support.h>
#include <sys/types.h>

Go to the source code of this file.

Functions
void	explain_kill_or_die (pid_t pid, int sig)
int	explain_kill_on_error (pid_t pid, int sig) LIBEXPLAIN_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
const char *	explain_kill (pid_t pid, int sig) LIBEXPLAIN_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
const char *	explain_errno_kill (int errnum, pid_t pid, int sig) LIBEXPLAIN_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT
void	explain_message_kill (char *message, int message_size, pid_t pid, int sig)
void	explain_message_errno_kill (char *message, int message_size, int errnum, pid_t pid, int sig)

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Detailed Description

explain kill(2) errors

These functions may be used to obtain explanations for errors returned by the kill(2) system call.

Definition in file kill.h.

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Function Documentation

const char* explain_errno_kill	(	int	errnum,
		pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_errno_kill function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by the kill(2) 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.

Parameters:

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.
pid	The original pid, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The original sig, exactly as passed to the kill(2) 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.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 if (kill(pid, sig) < 0)
 {
     int err = errno;
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_errno_kill(err, pid, sig));
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }

The above code example is available pre-packaged as the explain_kill_or_die function.

const char* explain_kill	(	pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_kill function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by the kill(2) 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.

Parameters:

pid	The original pid, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The original sig, exactly as passed to the kill(2) 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.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 if (kill(pid, sig) < 0)
 {
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_kill(pid, sig));
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }

The above code example is available pre-packaged as the explain_kill_or_die function.

int explain_kill_on_error	(	pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_kill_on_error function is used to call the kill(2) system call. On failure an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from the explain_kill(3) function.

Parameters:

pid	The pid, exactly as to be passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The sig, exactly as to be passed to the kill(2) system call.

Returns:

The value returned by the wrapped kill(2) system call.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 if (explain_kill_on_error(pid, sig) < 0)
 {
     ...cope with error
     ...no need to print error message
 }

void explain_kill_or_die	(	pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_kill_or_die function is used to call the kill(2) system call. On failure an explanation will be printed to stderr, obtained from the explain_kill(3) function, and then the process terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE).

Parameters:

pid	The pid, exactly as to be passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The sig, exactly as to be passed to the kill(2) system call.

Returns:

This function only returns on success, see kill(2) for more information. On failure, prints an explanation and exits, it does not return.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 explain_kill_or_die(pid, sig);

void explain_message_errno_kill	(	char *	message,
		int	message_size,
		int	errnum,
		pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_message_errno_kill function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by the kill(2) 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.

Parameters:

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.
pid	The original pid, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The original sig, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 if (kill(pid, sig) < 0)
 {
     int err = errno;
     char message[3000];
     explain_message_errno_kill(message, sizeof(message), err, pid, sig);
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }

The above code example is available pre-packaged as the explain_kill_or_die function.

void explain_message_kill	(	char *	message,
		int	message_size,
		pid_t	pid,
		int	sig
	)

The explain_message_kill function is used to obtain an explanation of an error returned by the kill(2) 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.

The errno global variable will be used to obtain the error value to be decoded.

Parameters:

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.
pid	The original pid, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.
sig	The original sig, exactly as passed to the kill(2) system call.

Example:

This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

 if (kill(pid, sig) < 0)
 {
     char message[3000];
     explain_message_kill(message, sizeof(message), pid, sig);
     fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
     exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }

The above code example is available pre-packaged as the explain_kill_or_die function.