PFMT(3C)PFMT(3C)NAMEpfmt - display error message in standard format
SYNOPSIS
#include <pfmt.h>
int pfmt(FILE *stream, long flags, char *format, ... /* arg */);
DESCRIPTION
The pfmt() retrieves a format string from a locale-specific message
database (unless MM_NOGET is specified) and uses it for printf(3C)
style formatting of args. The output is displayed on stream.
The pfmt() function encapsulates the output in the standard error mes‐
sage format (unless MM_NOSTD is specified, in which case the output is
similar to printf()).
If the printf() format string is to be retrieved from a message data‐
base, the format argument must have the following structure:
<catalog>:<msgnum>:<defmsg>.
If MM_NOGET is specified, only the defmsg field must be specified.
The catalog field is used to indicate the message database that con‐
tains the localized version of the format string. This field must be
limited to 14 characters selected from the set of all characters val‐
ues, excluding \0 (null) and the ASCII codes for / (slash) and :
(colon).
The msgnum field is a positive number that indicates the index of the
string into the message database.
If the catalog does not exist in the locale (specified by the last call
to setlocale(3C) using the LC_ALL or LC_MESSAGES categories), or if the
message number is out of bound, pfmt() will attempt to retrieve the
message from the C locale. If this second retrieval fails, pfmt() uses
the defmsg field of the format argument.
If catalog is omitted, pfmt() will attempt to retrieve the string from
the default catalog specified by the last call to setcat(3C). In this
case, the format argument has the following structure:
:<msgnum>:<defmsg>.
The pfmt() will output Message not found!!\n as format string if cata‐
log is not a valid catalog name, if no catalog is specified (either
explicitely or with setcat()), if msgnum is not a valid number, or if
no message could be retrieved from the message databases and defmsg was
omitted.
The flags argument determine the type of output (such as whether the
format should be interpreted as is or encapsulated in the standard mes‐
sage format), and the access to message catalogs to retrieve a local‐
ized version of format.
The flags argument is composed of several groups, and can take the fol‐
lowing values (one from each group):
Output format control
MM_NOSTD
Do not use the standard message format, interpret format as
printf() format. Only catalog access control flags should
be specified if MM_NOSTD is used; all other flags will be
ignored.
MM_STD
Output using the standard message format (default value 0).
Catalog access control
MM_NOGET
Do not retrieve a localized version of format. In this
case, only the defmsg field of the format is specified.
MM_GET
Retrieve a localized version of format from the catalog,
using msgid as the index and defmsg as the default message
(default value 0).
Severity (standard message format only)
MM_HALT
Generate a localized version of HALT, but do not halt the
machine.
MM_ERROR
Generate a localized version of ERROR (default value 0).
MM_WARNING
Generate a localized version of WARNING.
MM_INFO
Generate a localized version of INFO.
Additional severities can be defined. Add-on severities can be defined
with number-string pairs with numeric values from the range [5-255],
using addsev(3C). The specified severity will be generated from the
bitwise OR operation of the numeric value and other flags If the sever‐
ity is not defined, pfmt() uses the string SEV=N, where N is replaced
by the integer severity value passed in flags.
Multiple severities passed in flags will not be detected as an error.
Any combination of severities will be summed and the numeric value will
cause the display of either a severity string (if defined) or the
string SEV=N (if undefined).
Action
MM_ACTION
Specify an action message. Any severity value is super‐
seded and replaced by a localized version of TO FIX.
STANDARD ERROR MESSAGE FORMAT
The pfmt() function displays error messages in the following format:
label: severity: text
If no label was defined by a call to setlabel(3C), the message is dis‐
played in the format:
severity: text
If pfmt() is called twice to display an error message and a helpful
action or recovery message, the output can look like:
label: severity: textlabel: TO FIX: text
RETURN VALUES
Upon success, pfmt() returns the number of bytes transmitted. Upon
failure, it returns a negative value:
−1
Write error to stream.
EXAMPLES
Example 1 Example of pfmt() function.
Example 1:
setlabel("UX:test");
pfmt(stderr, MM_ERROR, "test:2:Cannot open file: %s\n",
strerror(errno));
displays the message:
UX:test: ERROR: Cannot open file: No such file or directory
Example 2:
setlabel("UX:test");
setcat("test");
pfmt(stderr, MM_ERROR, ":10:Syntax error\n");
pfmt(stderr, MM_ACTION, "55:Usage ...\n");
displays the message
UX:test: ERROR: Syntax error
UX:test: TO FIX: Usage ...
USAGE
Since it uses gettxt(3C), pfmt() should not be used.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌───────────────┬─────────────────┐
│ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├───────────────┼─────────────────┤
│MT-Level │ MT-safe │
└───────────────┴─────────────────┘
SEE ALSOaddsev(3C), gettxt(3C), lfmt(3C), printf(3C), setcat(3C), setlabel(3C),
setlocale(3C), attributes(5), environ(5)
Dec 29, 1996 PFMT(3C)
