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Name

Synopsis

#include <pfmt.h>

int pfmt(FILE *stream, long flags, char *format, ... /* arg */);

MT-Level

Description

pfmt() encapsulates the output in the standard error message format (unless MM_NOSTD is specified, in which case the output is simply printf() like).

If the printf() format string is to be retrieved from a message database, the format argument must have the following structure:

<catalog>:<msgnum>:<defmsg>.

If MM_NOGET is specified, only the <defmsg> part must be specified.

<catalog> is used to indicate the message database that contains the localized version of the format string. <catalog> must be limited to 14 characters. These characters must be selected from a set of all characters values, excluding \0 (null) and the ASCII codes for / (slash) and : (colon).

<msgnum> 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() 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> part 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(). In this case, the format argument has the following structure:

:<msgnum>:<defmsg>.

pfmt() will output Message not found!!\n as format string if <catalog> is not a valid catalog name, if no catalog is specified (either explicitely or via 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 determine the type of output (i.e. whether the format should be interpreted as is or encapsulated in the standard message format), and the access to message catalogs to retrieve a localized version of format.

The flags are composed of several groups, and can take the following values (one from each group): Output format control

MM_NOSTD

Do not use the standard message format, interpret format as a 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> part 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

generates a localized version of HALT, but does not halt the machine.

MM_ERROR

generates a localized version of ERROR (default, value 0).

MM_WARNING

generates a localized version of WARNING.

MM_INFO

generates 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(). The numeric value ORed with other flags will generate the specified severity.

If the severity is not defined, pfmt() used the string SEV=N where N is replaced by the integer severity value passed in flags.

Multiple severities passed inf 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

specifies an action message. Any severity value is superseded and replaced by a localized version of TO FIX.

Standard Error Message Format

label: severity: text

If no label was defined by a call to setlabel(), the message is displayed 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: text
label: TO FIX: text

Return Value

-1

write error to stream.

Examples

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 ...

Notes

See Also

Table of Contents

• Name
• Synopsis
• MT-Level
• Description
• Standard Error Message Format
• Return Value
• Examples
• Notes
• See Also