fmtmsg(3C)																fmtmsg(3C)

NAME

       fmtmsg() - displays formatted message on standard error and console

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

       The  routine is intended as a language-independent error message service.  Messages are displayed on the system console, standard error, or
       both, depending on the setting of the class parameter.  The format of messages is under the control of the user, who may specify  how  much
       of  the message is to be displayed on standard error.  However, the format of the message displayed to the system console is not under user
       control.

       All messages specify a class, which indicates the source and status of the error condition, and where the message should be directed.   The
       class may be functionally excluded by specifying If this is done, no message is produced.  The class types are:

	      The display class has allowable values of
				  which  directs  the message to standard error, which directs the message to the system console, or which directs
				  the message to both.

	      The error type class may be one of
				  indicating a hardware error, indicating a software failure, or which indicates a firmware error.

	      The error source class may be one of
				  indicating an application, indicating an OS utility, or indicating a system error.

	      The recovery status class may be one of
				  indicating recovery from the error is possible, or stating no recovery is possible.

       The remaining parameters are functionally optional, in that the message produced may exclude any or all of  them.   Each  is  discussed	in
       parameter order.

       The  label  component  states  where the error originated.  It has the form major:minor, where major is a 10 character field specifying the
       major system producing the message and minor is a 14 character field specifying the subsystem in error.	For example,

       This component can be excluded by setting it to or

       The severity component describes the degree of importance of the failure.  The predefined severity levels are:

	      No severity is specified and no print string is generated.

	      The message is informational only and the
				  string is generated.

	      The situation might be in error, and should be checked.
				  The string is generated.

	      An error has been detected.
				  The string is generated.

	      An unrecoverable error has been detected.
				  The string is generated.

       The text component describes the nature of the failure in the most specific terms.  It is  expected  to	provide  a  sufficiently  detailed
       account of the error to remove all doubt about its cause.  It may be excluded by setting text to or

       The action component describes the options available for recovery from the error.  As output, it is prefaced with the string It may be dis-
       abled by setting to or

       The tag component is intended to direct the user to the appropriate documentation to correct or avoid the error.  It  may  be  disabled	by
       setting tag to or

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

       The  user may control the appearance of the message produced on standard error through the use of two environment variables: and These have
       no effect on the console message.

       The environment variable describes the components the user is interested in seeing.  The value of is a list of one or more components, sep-
       arated by colons if more than one is specified.	All components with non-NULL values listed in are displayed when is called; all other com-
       ponents are excluded.  Only the component names label, severity, text, action, and tag are valid list elements.	Any others  (or  an  empty
       list) are considered an error in format.  If is erroneous or unset, produces the full message.

       The  environment variable gives users control over the text string displayed for the severity component if the severity is other than those
       described above.  The predefined severity levels through cannot be overridden.

       The value of is a list of one or more level specifiers separated by colons.  A level specifier is a three item comma list of the form iden-
       tifier,	level, message.  The identifier is not used by and is only included for compatibility.	It is not optional, however, as expects it
       when examining level specifiers for the other two parts.  The level is a number greater than four indicating the level defined.	 The  mes-
       sage  is  a  string  to be displayed in the field, in the same manner as and are displayed for the and severities.  Level specifiers having
       more or fewer than three items are invalid, as are null level specifiers.  Invalid or null valued lists have no impact on the behavior of

RETURN VALUE

       The routine returns one of the following values on exit:

	      Success.

	      Failure.

	      Failure to standard error, success to the system console.

	      Success to standard error, failure to the system console.

AUTHOR

       was developed by OSF and HP.

SEE ALSO

       printf(3S), thread_safety(5).

STANDARDS COMPLIANCE

																	fmtmsg(3C)