jpayne@68: .\" Copyright (c) 1988 Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
jpayne@68: .\" Student Information Processing Board.  All rights reserved.
jpayne@68: .\"
jpayne@68: .\" util/et/compile_et.1
jpayne@68: .\"
jpayne@68: .TH COMPILE_ET 1 "22 Nov 1988" SIPB
jpayne@68: .SH NAME
jpayne@68: compile_et \- error table compiler
jpayne@68: .SH SYNOPSIS
jpayne@68: .B compile_et
jpayne@68: [
jpayne@68: .B \-\-textdomain
jpayne@68: .I domain
jpayne@68: [
jpayne@68: .B \-\-localedir
jpayne@68: .I dir
jpayne@68: ] ]
jpayne@68: file
jpayne@68: .SH DESCRIPTION
jpayne@68: .B Compile_et
jpayne@68: converts a table listing error-code names and associated messages into
jpayne@68: a C source file suitable for use with the
jpayne@68: .IR com_err (3)
jpayne@68: library.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: The source file name must end with a suffix of ``.et''; the file
jpayne@68: consists of a declaration supplying the name (up to four characters
jpayne@68: long) of the error-code table:
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .B error_table
jpayne@68: .I name
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: followed by up to 256 entries of the form:
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .B error_code
jpayne@68: .I name,
jpayne@68: "
jpayne@68: .I string
jpayne@68: "
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: and a final
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .B end
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: to indicate the end of the table.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: The name of the table is used to construct the name of a subroutine
jpayne@68: .I initialize_XXXX_error_table
jpayne@68: which must be called in order for the
jpayne@68: .I com_err
jpayne@68: library to recognize the error table.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: The various error codes defined are assigned sequentially increasing
jpayne@68: numbers (starting with a large number computed as a hash function of
jpayne@68: the name of the table); thus for compatibility it is suggested that
jpayne@68: new codes be added only to the end of an existing table, and that no
jpayne@68: codes be removed from tables.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: The names defined in the table are placed into a C header file with
jpayne@68: preprocessor directives defining them as integer constants of up to
jpayne@68: 32 bits in magnitude.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: A C source file is also generated which should be compiled and linked
jpayne@68: with the object files which reference these error codes; it contains
jpayne@68: the text of the messages and the initialization subroutine.  Both C
jpayne@68: files have names derived from that of the original source file, with
jpayne@68: the ``.et'' suffix replaced by ``.c'' and ``.h''.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: A ``#'' in the source file is treated as a comment character, and all
jpayne@68: remaining text to the end of the source line will be ignored.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: If a text domain is provided with the
jpayne@68: .B \-\-textdomain
jpayne@68: option, error messages will be looked up in the specified domain with
jpayne@68: .BR gettext .
jpayne@68: If a locale directory is also provided with the
jpayne@68: .B \-\-localedir
jpayne@68: option, the text domain will be bound to the specified locale
jpayne@68: directory with
jpayne@68: .B bindtextdomain
jpayne@68: when the error table is initialized.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .SH BUGS
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: Since
jpayne@68: .B compile_et
jpayne@68: uses a very simple parser based on
jpayne@68: .IR yacc (1),
jpayne@68: its error recovery leaves much to be desired.
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .\" .IR for manual entries
jpayne@68: .\" .PP for paragraph breaks
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: .SH "SEE ALSO"
jpayne@68: com_err (3).
jpayne@68: 
jpayne@68: Ken Raeburn, "A Common Error Description Library for UNIX".