ELFERROR(3E)                                                    ELFERROR(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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