NAME¶

explain - explain system call error messages

SYNOPSIS¶

explain [ option ... ] function [ argument ... ] explain --version

DESCRIPTION¶

The explain command is used to decode an error return read from an strace(1) listing, or silimar. Because thisd is being deciphered in a different process than the orginal, the results will be less accurate than if the program itself were to use libexplain(3).

Functions¶

The functions understood include:

accept fildes addr addrlen

The accept(2) system call.

accept4 fildes [[ sock_addr sock_addr_size ] flags ]

The accept4(2) system call.

access pathname

The access(2) system call.

acct pathname

The acct(2) system call.

adjtime delta olddelta

The adjtime(2) system call.

adjtimex data

The adjtimex(2) system call.

bind fildes addr sockaddr_size

The bind(2) system call.

calloc nmemb size

The calloc(3) system call.

chdir pathname

The chdir(2) system call.

chmod pathname permission‐mode

The chmod(2) system call.

chown pathname owner group

The chown(2) system call.

chroot pathname

The chroot(2) system call.

close fildes

The close(2) system call.

closedir dir

The closedir(3) system call.

connect fildes serv_addr serv_addr_size

The connect(2) system call.

creat pathname [ permission‐mode

The creat(2) system call.

dirfd dir

The dirfd(3) system call.

dup fildes

The dup(2) system call.

dup2 oldfd newfd

The dup2(2) system call.

eventfd initval flags

The eventfd(2) system call.

execlp pathname arg...

The execlp(3) system call.

execve pathname arg...

The execve(2) system call.

execvp pathname arg...

The execvp(3) system call.

fchdir pathname

The fchdir(2) system call.

fchown fildes owner group

The fchown(2) system call.

fclose fp

The fclose(3) system call.

fcntl fildes command [ arg ]

The fcntl(2) system call.

fdopen fd mode

The fdopen(3) system call.

fdopendir fildes

The fdopendir(3) system call.

feof fp

The feof(3) system call.

ferror fp

The ferror(3) system call.

fflush fp

The fflush(3) system call.

fgetc fp

The fgetc(3) system call.

fgetpos fp pos

The fgetpos(3) system call.

fgets data data_size fp

The fgets(3) system call.

fileno fp

The fileno(3) system call.

flock fildes command

The flock(2) system call.

fork

The fork(2) system call.

fpathconf fildes name

The fpathconf(3) system call.

fpurge fp

The fpurge(3) system call.

fread ptr size nmemb fp

The fread(3) system call.

fopen pathname mode

The fopen(2) system call. The pathname argument may need to be quoted to insulate white space and punctuation from the shell. The mode argument (a textual equivalent of the open system call's flags argument). See fopen(3) for more information.

fputc c [ fp ]

The fputc(3) system call.

fputs s fp

The fputs(3) system call.

freopen pathname flags fp

The freopen(3) system call.

fseek fp offset whence

The fseek(3) system call.

fsetpos fp pos

The fsetpos(3) system call.

fstat pathname

The fstat(2) system call.

fstatfs fildes data

The fstatfs(2) system call.

fstatvfs fildes data

The fstatvfs(2) system call.

fsync fildes

The fsync(2) system call.

ftell fp

The ftell(3) system call.

ftime tp

The ftime(3) system call.

ftruncate fildes length

The ftruncate(2) system call.

futimes fildes tv[0] tv[1]

The futimes(3) system call.

getc fp

The getc(3) system call.

getchar

The getchar(3) system call.

getcwd buf size

The getcwd(2) system call.

getdomainname data data_size

The getdomainname(2) system call.

getgroups data_size data

The getgroups(2) system call.

gethostname [ data data_size ]

The gethostname(2) system call.

getpeername fildes sock_addr sock_addr_size

The getpeername(2) system call.

getpgid pid

The getpgid(2) system call.

getpgrp pid

The getpgrp(2) system call.

getrlimit resource rlim

The getrlimit(2) system call.

getsockname fildes [ sock_addr [ sock_addr_size ]]

The getsockname(2) system call.

getsockopt fildes level name data data_size

The getsockopt(2) system call.

gettimeofday [ tv [ tz ] ]

The gettimeofday(2) system call.

getw fp

The getw(3) system call.

ioctl fildes request data

The ioctl(2) system call.

kill pid sig

The kill(2) system call.

lchown pathname owner group

The lchown(2) system call.

link oldpath newpath

The link(2) system call.

listen fildes backlog

The listen(2) system call.

lseek fildes offset whence

The lseek(2) system call.

lstat pathname

The lstat(2) system call.

malloc size

The malloc(3) system call.

mkdir pathname [ mode ]

The mkdir(2) system call.

mkdtemp pathname

The mkdtemp(3) system call.

mknod pathname mode dev

The mknod(2) system call.

mkostemp templat flags

The mkostemp(3) system call.

mkstemp templat

The mkstemp(3) system call.

mktemp pathname

The mktemp(3) system call.

mmap data data_size prot flags fildes offset

The mmap(2) system call.

munmap data data_size

The munmap(2) system call.

nice inc

The nice(2) system call.

open pathname flags [ mode ]

The open(2) system call. The pathname argument may need to be quoted to insulate white space and punctuation from the shell. The flags argument may be numeric or symbolic. The mode argument may be numeric or symbolic.

opendir pathname

The opendir(3) system call.

pathconf pathname name

The pathconf(3) system call.

pclose fp

The pclose(3) system call.

pipe pipefd

The pipe(2) system call.

poll fds nfds timeout

The poll(2) system call.

popen command flags

The popen(3) system call.

pread fildes data data_size offset

The pread(2) system call.

ptrace request pid addr data

The ptrace(2) system call.

putc c fp

The putc(3) system call.

putchar c

The putchar(3) system call.

putenv string

The putenv(3) system call.

puts s

The puts(3) system call.

putw value fp

The putw(3) system call.

pwrite fildes data data_size offset

The pwrite(2) system call.

raise sig

The raise(3) system call.

read fildes data data‐size

The read(2) system call.

realloc ptr size

The realloc(3) system call.

realpath pathname resolved_pathname

The realpath(3) system call.

rename oldpath newpath

The rename(2) system call.

readv fildes iov ...

The readv(2) system call.

select nfds readfds writefds exceptfds timeout

The select(2) system call.

setbuf fp data

The setbuf(3) system call.

setbuffer fp data size

The setbuffer(3) system call.

setdomainname data data_size

The setdomainname(2) system call.

setenv name value overwrite

The setenv(3) system call.

setgroups data_size data

The setgroups(2) system call.

sethostname name [ name_size ]

The sethostname(2) system call.

setlinebuf fp

The setlinebuf(3) system call.

setpgid [ pid [ pgid ]]

The setpgid(2) system call.

setpgrp pid pgid

The setpgrp(2) system call.

setsid

The setsid(2) system call.

setsockopt fildes level name data data_size

The setsockopt(2) system call.

setvbuf fp data mode size

The setvbuf(3) system call.

shmat shmid shmaddr shmflg

The shmat(2) system call.

shmctl shmid command data

The shmctl(2) system call.

signalfd fildes mask flags

The signalfd(2) system call.

socket domain type protocol

The socket(2) system call.

socketpair domain type protocol sv

The socketpair(2) system call.

stat pathname

The stat(2) system call.

statfs pathname data

The statfs(2) system call.

statvfs pathname data

The statvfs(2) system call.

stime t

The stime(2) system call.

strdup data

The strdup(3) system call.

strerror

The error given will be printed out with all known detail.

strndup data data_size

The strndup(3) system call.

strtod nptr endptr

The strtod(3) system call.

strtof nptr endptr

The strtof(3) system call.

strtol nptr endptr base

The strtol(3) system call.

strtold nptr endptr

The strtold(3) system call.

strtoll nptr endptr base

The strtoll(3) system call.

strtoul nptr endptr base

The strtoul(3) system call.

strtoull nptr endptr base

The strtoull(3) system call.

symlink oldpath newpath

The symlink(2) system call.

system command

The system(3) system call.

tcdrain fildes

The tcdrain(3) system call.

tcflow fildes action

The tcflow(3) system call.

tcflush fildes selector

The tcflush(3) system call.

tcgetattr fildes data

The tcgetattr(3) system call.

tcsendbreak fildes duration

The tcsendbreak(3) system call.

tcsetattr fildes options data

The tcsetattr(3) system call.

telldir dir

The telldir(3) system call.

tempnam dir prefix

The tempnam(3) system call.

time t

The time(2) system call.

timerfd_create clockid flags

The timerfd_create(2) system call.

tmpfile

The tmpfile(3) system call.

tmpnam pathname

The tmpnam(3) system call.

truncate pathname size

The truncate(2) system call.

ungetc c fp

The ungetc(3) system call.

unlink pathname

The unlink(2) system call.

unsetenv name

The unsetenv(3) system call.

ustat dev ubuf

The ustat(2) system call.

utime pathname [ times ]

The utime(2) system call.

utimes pathname data

The utimes(2) system call.

vfork

The vfork(2) system call.

wait status

The wait(2) system call.

wait3 status options rusage

The wait3(2) system call.

wait4 pid status options rusage

The wait4(2) system call.

waitpid pid status options

The waitpid(2) system call.

write fildes data data‐size

The write(2) system call.

writev fildes data data‐size

The writev(2) system call.

Do not include the perentheses used to make the call.

OPTIONS¶

The explain command understands the following options:

-E

The exit staus, success or fail, will be printed immediately before the access command terminates.

-e number

The value of errno as a number (e.g. 2), or as a symbol ( e.g. ENOENT), or as the text of its meaning ( e.g. No such file or directory ). You will need quotes to insulate spaces and punctuation from the shell.

-V

Print the version of the explain executing.

EXIT STATUS¶

The explain command exits with status 1 on any error. The explain command only exits with status 0 if there are no errors.

COPYRIGHT¶

explain version 0.52 Copyright (C) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Peter Miller

AUTHOR¶

Written by Peter Miller <pmiller@opensource.org.au>