explain_getgrent_or_die(3)

💖 explain_getgrent_or_die — bestie edition 💖

okay so real talk, this is the manual page for explain_getgrent_or_die(3), which lives in the Library Functions Manual. yes it's a mouthful, no we're not changing it, it's iconic actually.

---

✨ NAME ✨

explain_getgrent_or_die — grab a group file entry, and like, report the errors if it goes sideways. periodt. 💅

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <libexplain/getgrent.h>
struct group *explain_getgrent_or_die(void);
struct group *explain_getgrent_on_error(void);

two functions, both take no arguments, both hand you back a struct group *. slay.

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so there's two of them and they're lowkey siblings with different personalities.

explain_getgrent_or_die — this one calls the getgrent(3) system call for you. and if it fails? bestie, it prints an explanation to stderr (which it gets from the explain_getgrent(3) function, obviously) and then it terminates the whole process by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). yeah. it does not play. no survivors. 💀

explain_getgrent_on_error — same energy, calls getgrent(3), and on failure it also prints an explanation to stderr obtained from the explain_getgrent(3) function... but here's the plot twist: it still returns to the caller. it's the chill one. it tells you what went wrong and then hands you back the keys. 🫶

---

🎀 RETURN VALUE 🎀

explain_getgrent_or_die only ever returns on success. wanna know more about what it gives you? go read getgrent(3). on failure it prints an explanation and exits — it does not return. not even a little. 😭

explain_getgrent_on_error always returns the value returned by the wrapped getgrent(3) system call. always. it's reliable like that. ✨

---

🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

the explain_getgrent_or_die function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to the following example:

struct group *result = explain_getgrent_or_die();

that's it. that's the whole vibe. one line, does its job, main character energy. 👑

---

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• getgrent(3) — get group file entry
• explain_getgrent(3) — explain getgrent(3) errors
• exit(2) — terminate the calling process

---

💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

this is libexplain version 1.4, and the copyright belongs to Copyright (C) 2013 Peter Miller. protect it, it's precious. 🧚

---

and that's the page bestie, ily, go call getgrent(3) responsibly 💖✨🎀🦋🌸💅🫶