FMTMSG(3) Library Functions Manual FMTMSG(3)

fmtmsg — display a message in the specified format on standard error and/or a system console

#include <fmtmsg.h>

int fmtmsg(long classification, const char *label, int severity,
    const char *text, const char *action, const char *tag);

The fmtmsg() function can be used to display messages in a specified format instead of the traditional printf(3) function.

Based on a message's classification component, fmtmsg() writes a formatted message either to standard error, to the console, or to both.

A formatted message consists of up to five components as defined below. The component classification is not part of a message displayed to the user, but defines the source of the message and directs the display of the formatted message.

Contains identifiers from the following groups of major classifications and subclassifications. Any one identifier from a subclass may be used in combination with a single identifier from a different subclass. Two or more identifiers from the same subclass should not be used together, with the exception of identifiers from the display subclass. (Both display subclass identifiers may be used so that messages can be displayed to both standard error and the system console).
Identifies the source of the condition. Identifiers are: MM_HARD (hardware), MM_SOFT (software), and MM_FIRM (firmware).
Identifies the type of software in which the problem is detected. Identifiers are: MM_APPL (application), MM_UTIL (utility), and MM_OPSYS (operating system).
Indicates where the message is to be displayed. Identifiers are: MM_PRINT to display the message on the standard error stream, MM_CONSOLE to display the message on the system console. One or both identifiers may be used.
Indicates whether the application will recover from the condition. Identifiers are: MM_RECOVER (recoverable) and MM_NRECOV (non-recoverable).

An additional identifier, MM_NULLMC, indicates that no classification component is supplied for the message.

label Identifies the source of the message. The format is two fields separated by a colon. The first field is up to 10 bytes, the second is up to 14 bytes.

severity Indicates the seriousness of the condition. Identifiers for the levels of severity are:

Indicates that the application has encountered a severe fault and is halting. Produces the string "HALT".
Indicates that the application has detected a fault. Produces the string "ERROR".
Indicates a condition that is out of the ordinary, that might be a problem, and should be watched. Produces the string "WARNING".
Provides information about a condition that is not in error. Produces the string "INFO".
Indicates that no severity level is supplied for the message.

Describes the error condition that produced the message. The character string is not limited to a specific size. If the character string is empty, then the text produced is unspecified.

action Describes the first step to be taken in the error-recovery process. The fmtmsg() function precedes the action string with the prefix: "TO FIX:". The action string is not limited to a specific size.

tag An identifier that references on-line documentation for the message. Suggested usage is that tag includes the label and a unique identifying number. A sample tag is "XSI:cat:146".

The MSGVERB environment variable (for message verbosity) tells fmtmsg() which message components it is to select when writing messages to standard error. The value of MSGVERB is a colon-separated list of optional keywords. Valid are: label, severity, text, action, and tag. If MSGVERB contains a keyword for a component and the component's value is not the component's null value, fmtmsg() includes that component in the message when writing the message to standard error. If MSGVERB does not include a keyword for a message component, that component is not included in the display of the message. The keywords may appear in any order. If MSGVERB is not defined, if its value is the null string, if its value is not of the correct format, or if it contains keywords other than the valid ones listed above, fmtmsg() selects all components.

MSGVERB affects only which components are selected for display to standard error. All message components are included in console messages.

The fmtmsg() function returns one of the following values:

The function succeeded.
The function failed completely.
The function was unable to generate a message on standard error, but otherwise succeeded.
The function was unable to generate a console message, but otherwise succeeded.

None.

Example 1:

The following example of fmtmsg(): fmtmsg(MM_PRINT, "XSI:cat", MM_ERROR, "illegal option", "refer to cat in user's reference manual", "XSI:cat:001")

produces a complete message in the specified message format: XSI:cat: ERROR: illegal option TO FIX: refer to cat in user's reference manual XSI:cat:001

Example 2:

When the environment variable MSGVERB is set as follows: MSGVERB=severity:text:action

and the Example 1 is used, fmtmsg() produces: ERROR: illegal option TO FIX: refer to cat in user's reference manual

One or more message components may be systematically omitted from messages generated by an application by using the null value of the argument for that component.

None.

printf(3) , <fmtmsg.h> .

February 1997 posix.fail