MKSTR(1)
NAME
mkstr − create an error message file by massaging C source
USAGE
mkstr [ − ] messagefile prefix file ...
DESCRIPTION
Mkstr creates files of error messages. It can decrease the size of programs with large numbers of error diagnostics. Furthermore, it can reduce system overhead in running programs, as error messages do not have to be constantly swapped in and out.
Mkstr processes each of the specified files, placing a massaged version of the input file in a file whose name consists of the specified prefix and the original name.
To process the error messages in the source to the message file, mkstr keys on the ‘error("’ string in the input stream. Each time it occurs, the C string starting at the quotation mark is placed in the message file followed by a null character and a newline character. The null character terminates the message so it can be easily used when retrieved. The newline character makes it possible to sensibly execute cat(1) to concatenate the error message file and see its contents. The massaged copy of the input file then contains a lseek(2) pointer into the file which can be used to retrieve the message, i.e.:
charefilname[] = “/usr/lib/pi_strings”;
intefil = -1;
error(a1, a2, a3, a4)
{
char buf[256];
if (efil < 0) {
efil = open(efilname, 0);
if (efil < 0) {
oops:
perror(efilname);
exit(1);
}
}
if (lseek(efil, (long) a1, 0) || read(efil, buf, 256) <= 0)
goto oops;
printf(buf, a2, a3, a4);
}
The optional dash (−) as an argument causes error messages to be placed at the end of the specified message file for recompiling part of a large mkstr program.
EXAMPLE
To cause all the error messages from the C source files in the current directory to be placed in the file pistrings, and processed copies of the source for these files to be placed in files whose names are prefixed with xx, use the following:
% mkstr pistrings xx *.c
CAUTIONS
All the arguments except the name of the file to be processed could be made unnecessary.