elf_error(3E)             UNIX System V(ELF Library)              elf_error(3E)


NAME
      elferrmsg, elferrno - error handling

SYNOPSIS
      cc [flag ...] file ...  -lelf [library ...]

      #include <libelf.h>
      const char *elferrmsg(int err);
      int elferrno(void);

DESCRIPTION
      If an ELF library function fails, a program may call elferrno to
      retrieve the library's internal error number.  As a side effect, this
      function resets the internal error number to zero, which indicates no
      error.

      elferrmsg takes an error number, err, and returns a null-terminated
      error message (with no trailing new-line) that describes the problem.  A
      zero err retrieves a message for the most recent error.  If no error has
      occurred, the return value is a null pointer (not a pointer to the null
      string).  Using err of -1 also retrieves the most recent error, except it
      guarantees a non-null return value, even when no error has occurred.  If
      no message is available for the given number, elferrmsg returns a
      pointer to an appropriate message.  This function does not have the side
      effect of clearing the internal error number.

EXAMPLE
      The following fragment clears the internal error number and checks it
      later for errors.  Unless an error occurs after the first call to
      elferrno, the next call will return zero.

           (void)elferrno();
           while (moretodo)
           {
                   /* processing ... */
                   if ((err = elferrno()) != 0)
                   {
                           msg = elferrmsg(err);
                           /* print msg */
                   }
           }

SEE ALSO
      elf(3E), elfversion(3E)










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