pfmt(1)								       pfmt(1)

NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     pfmt - display error message in standard format

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     pfmt [-l label<b>][-s	severity<b>][-g catalog<b>:msgid<b>] format <b>[args<b>]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     pfmt uses format for printf style formatting of args.  pfmt encapsulates
     the output	in the standard	error message format and displays it on
     stderr.

     The following options are available.

     -l	label	 Specify the label string to be	displayed with the message
		 (for example, "UX:cat").  label is a character	string no more
		 than 25 characters in length; it will be automatically
		 suffixed with a colon (:).  When unspecified, no label	is
		 displayed as part of the message or when the environment
		 variable NOMSGLABEL has been set.  Setting the	NOMSGLABEL to
		 turn off the label portion of the message.  Can be used in
		 conjunction with the NOMSGSEVERITY environment	variable.

     -s	severity Specify the severity string to	be displayed with the message.
		 Acceptable strings include the	standard severities in either
		 their print string (that is, HALT, ERROR, INFO, WARNING, and
		 "TO FIX") or keyword (that is,	halt, error, info, warn, and
		 action) forms,	or any other user-defined string.  A userdefined
 string	will be	assigned the integer severity value of
		 5.  The severity will be suffixed with	a colon	(:).  The
		 ERROR severity	will be	used if	no severity is specified,
		 unless	the NOMSGSEVERITY environment variable has been	set.
		 Setting the NOMSGSEVERITY to turn off the severity portion of
		 the message.  Can be used in conjunction with the NOMSGLABEL
		 environment variable.

     -g	catalog<b>:msgid
		 Specify that a	localized version of format should be
		 retrieved from	a locale-specific message database.  catalog
		 indicates the message database	that contains the localized
		 version of the	format string.	catalog	must be	limited	to 14
		 characters.  These characters must be selected	from a set of
		 all characters	values,	excluding \0 (NULL) or the characters
		 / (slash) and : (colon).

		 msgid is a positive number that indicates the index of	the
		 string	into the message database.
		 If catalog does not exist in the current locale (identified
		 by the	LC_MESSAGES or LANG environment	variables), or if
		 msgid is out of bounds, pfmt will attempt to retrieve the
		 message from the C locale.  If	this second retrieval fails,
		 pfmt uses the format string as	passed on the command line.

		 pfmt will output Message not found!!\n	as the format string


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pfmt(1)								       pfmt(1)



		 if msgid is not a valid number.

   Standard Error Message Format    [Toc]    [Back]
     pfmt displays error messages in the following format:

	  label<b>: severity<b>: text

     If	no label was defined using the -l label	option,	the message is
     displayed in the format:

	  severity<b>: text

     If	pfmt is	called twice to	display	an error message and a helpful action
     or	recovery message, the output can look like the following:

	  label<b>: severity<b>: text
	  label<b>: TO FIX: text

EXAMPLE    [Toc]    [Back]

     Example 1:

	  pfmt -l UX:test -s error "Syntax error\n"

     displays the message:

	  UX:test: ERROR: Syntax error

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     gettxt(1),	lfmt(1), printf(1), lfmt(3C), pfmt(3C),	environ(5)

DIAGNOSTICS    [Toc]    [Back]

     Upon success, pfmt	exits with code	0.

     Upon failure, pfmt	exits with the following codes:

     1	  write	error

     3	  syntax error


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