explain_time_or_die(3)

💖 explain_time_or_die(3) — the library function manual, bestie edition 💖

okay so this one lives in the Library Functions Manual section 3, and it's literally all about grabbing the time and ✨freaking out politely✨ if that goes wrong. let's get into it 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

explain_time_or_die — get time in seconds and report errors 💅

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <libexplain/time.h>
time_t explain_time_or_die(time_t *t);
time_t explain_time_on_error(time_t *t);

two functions, one header, no cap. 🦋

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so explain_time_or_die is the function you call when you wanna call the time(2) system call. if it fails, an explanation gets printed to stderr — and that explanation comes from the explain_time(3) function — and then, bestie, the process just terminates by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). like, it's done. it said what it said. 😭

and then there's explain_time_on_error, which is the softer sibling 🥺. it also calls the time(2) system call, and on failure it also prints an explanation to stderr (again, obtained from explain_time(3)) — but it still returns to the caller instead of nuking your whole program. the way that it just hands control back to you... iconic.

• t — the t, exactly as to be passed to the time(2) system call. no more, no less. 💯

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⭐ RETURN VALUE ⭐

explain_time_or_die only returns on success — see time(2) for more info on that. on failure, it prints an explanation and exits, so it does not return. periodt. 💀

explain_time_on_error always returns the value returned by the wrapped time(2) system call. always. every time. it's giving dependable. 👑

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🌈 EXAMPLE 🌈

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

time_t result = explain_time_or_die(t);

that's it. that's the whole vibe. copy it, love it, ship it. 🍓

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

• time(2) — get time in seconds
• explain_time(3) — explain time(2) errors
• exit(2) — terminate the calling process

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

libexplain version 1.4 Copyright (C) 2009 Peter Miller

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okay that's the whole page, bestie!! 🧚 this was brought to you by libexplain version 1.4, with the copyright belonging to Peter Miller, 2009 — and yes, the footer technically just says explain_time_or_die(3) again, which is giving main character energy honestly. go forth and time responsibly 💖✨