Copyright (c) 1999 The NetBSD Foundation, Inc.
All rights reserved.
This code is derived from software contributed to The NetBSD Foundation
by Klaus Klein.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE NETBSD FOUNDATION, INC. AND CONTRIBUTORS
``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE FOUNDATION OR CONTRIBUTORS
BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
.Dd April 11, 2011 .Dt FMTMSG 3 .Os .Sh NAME .Nm fmtmsg .Nd format and display a message .Sh LIBRARY .Lb libc .Sh SYNOPSIS n fmtmsg.h .Ft int .Fn fmtmsg "long classification" "const char *label" "int severity" "const char *text" "const char *action" "const char *tag" .Sh DESCRIPTION The .Fn fmtmsg function can be used to display messages in the specified format. Messages may be written either to standard error, to the console, or both.
p A formatted message consists of up to five components specified in .Fa label , .Fa severity , .Fa text , .Fa action and .Fa tag . Further information such as the origin of the message, the recoverability from the condition causing the message and where to display the message is specified in .Fa classification . .Ss Classification The .Fa classification argument consists of a major classification and several sub-classifications. It has no effect on the content of the message displayed. With the exception of the display sub-classification, only a single identifier may be specified for each (sub-)classification. The following classifications are available: l -tag -width "XXX" t Em Major classifications The source of the condition. Available identifiers are: .Dv MM_HARD (hardware), .Dv MM_SOFT (software), and .Dv MM_FIRM (firmware). t Em Message source sub-classifications The type of software detecting the condition. Available identifiers are: .Dv MM_APPL (application), .Dv MM_UTIL (utility), and .Dv MM_OPSYS (operating system). t Em Display sub-classifications The displays the formatted messages is to be written to. Available identifiers are: .Dv MM_PRINT (standard error stream) and .Dv MM_CONSOLE (system console). t Em Status sub-classifications The capability of the calling software to recover from the condition. Available identifiers are: .Dv MM_RECOVER (recoverable) and .Dv MM_NRECOV (non-recoverable). .El
p If no .Fa classification is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NULLMC must be specified. .Ss Label The .Fa label argument identifies the source of the message. It consists of two fields separated by a colon (:). The first field is up to 10 characters, the second is up to 14 characters.
p If no .Fa label is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NULLLBL must be specified. .Ss Severity The seriousness of the condition causing the message. The following .Fa severity levels are available: l -tag -width MM_WARNING -offset indent t Dv MM_HALT The software has encountered a severe fault and is halting. t Dv MM_ERROR The software has encountered a fault. t Dv MM_WARNING The software has encountered an unusual non-fault condition. t Dv MM_INFO The software informs about a non-error condition. .El
p If no .Fa severity level is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NOSEV must be specified. .Ss Text The description of the condition the software encountered. The character string is not limited to a specific size.
p If no .Fa text is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NOTXT must be specified. .Ss Action The first step to be taken to recover from the condition the software encountered; it will be preceded by the prefix .Dq TO FIX: . The character string is not limited to a specific size.
p If no .Fa action is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NOACT must be specified. .Ss Tag The on-line documentation which provides further information about the condition and the message, such as .Dq Xr fmtmsg 3 . The character string is not limited to a specific size.
p If no .Fa tag is to be supplied, .Dv MM_NOTAG must be specified.
p Further effect on the formatting of the message as displayed on the standard error stream (but not on the system console!) may be taken by setting the .Ev MSGVERB environment variable, which selects the subset of message components to be printed. It consists of a colon-separated list of the optional keywords .Fa label , .Fa severity , .Fa text , .Fa action , and .Fa tag , which correspond to the arguments to .Fn fmtmsg with the same names. If .Ev MSGVERB is either not set or malformed (containing empty or unknown keywords), its content is ignored an all message components will be selected.
p Note that displaying a message on the system console may fail due to inappropriate privileges or a non-permissive file mode of the console device. .Sh RETURN VALUES The .Fn fmtmsg function returns one of the following values: l -tag -width MM_NOTOKXXX t Dv MM_OK The function succeeded. t Dv MM_NOTOK The function failed completely. t Dv MM_NOMSG The function was unable to generate a message on standard error, but otherwise succeeded. t Dv MM_NOCOM The function was unable to generate a message on the console, but otherwise succeeded. .El .Sh SEE ALSO .Xr printf 3 , .Xr syslog 3 .Sh STANDARDS The .Fn fmtmsg function conforms to .St -xsh5 .