GNURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3)

💅 GNURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3) 💅

Okay bestie, this is the GNURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3) page from the curl_easy_setopt options manual, and it's honestly such a helpful little corner of libcurl. The whole point? Give libcurl a place to write human readable error tea when stuff goes sideways. 🫖✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER — set error buffer for error messages. That's it, that's the vibe: one option, one buffer, all the error-message realness. 💌

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <gnurl/curl.h>

CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER, char *buf);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so you pass a char * to a buffer, and libcurl may store human readable error messages in it when failures or problems happen. It's giving "more helpful than just the return code from curl_easy_perform(3) and related functions," and honestly yes. 😌

The buffer must be at least CURL_ERROR_SIZE bytes big. No tiny-buffer nonsense, bestie — give it room. 📏

You must keep the associated buffer available until libcurl no longer needs it. Failing to do so will cause very odd behavior or even crashes. 😭

🚨 Bestie, this is the serious part: libcurl will need that buffer until you call curl_easy_cleanup(3) or you set the same option again to use a different pointer. Do not let it dangle. Periodt. 💀

Do not rely on the contents of the buffer unless an error code was returned. Since 7.60.0 libcurl will initialize the contents of the error buffer to an empty string before performing the transfer. For earlier versions, if an error code was returned but there was no error detail, then the buffer is untouched. 🙈

Consider CURLOPT_VERBOSE(3) and CURLOPT_DEBUGFUNCTION(3) to better debug and trace why errors happen. Like, if you want the full detective arc, those are your girls. 🔍💖

🎀 DEFAULT 🎀

The default is NULL. No buffer unless you bring one. Slay. 💅

🌈 PROTOCOLS 🌈

All — every protocol, no cap. 🌟

🍓 EXAMPLE 🍓

       curl = curl_easy_init();
       if(curl) {
         CURLcode res;
         char errbuf[CURL_ERROR_SIZE];

         curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "http://example.com");

         /* provide a buffer to store errors in */
         curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER, errbuf);

         /* set the error buffer as empty before performing a request */
         errbuf[0] = 0;

         /* perform the request */
         res = curl_easy_perform(curl);

         /* if the request did not complete correctly, show the error
         information. if no detailed error information was written to errbuf
         show the more generic information from curl_easy_strerror instead.
         */
         if(res != CURLE_OK) {
           size_t len = strlen(errbuf);
           fprintf(stderr, "\nlibcurl: (%d) ", res);
           if(len)
             fprintf(stderr, "%s%s", errbuf,
                     ((errbuf[len - 1] != '\n') ? "\n" : ""));
           else
             fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", curl_easy_strerror(res));
         }
       }

⭐ AVAILABILITY ⭐

It's available Always. Iconic behavior, honestly. 👑

💜 RETURN VALUE 💜

Returns CURLE_OK. That's the return-value vibe check, and it passes. ✅

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• CURLOPT_DEBUGFUNCTION(3)
• CURLOPT_VERBOSE(3)
• curl_easy_strerror(3)
• curl_multi_strerror(3)
• curl_share_strerror(3)

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xoxo, this page is from libcurl 7.37.0, dated 17 Jun 2014, and it's the GNURLOPT_ERRORBUFFER(3) one — bye bestie, go forth and buffer responsibly 💖🎀