explain_vfork_or_die(3)

💖 explain_vfork_or_die 💖

okay bestie, so this one lives in the Library Functions Manual, section 3, and it's called explain_vfork_or_die — say that three times fast, I dare you 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

explain_vfork_or_die — create a child process and report errors

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <libexplain/vfork.h>
pid_t explain_vfork_or_die(void);
pid_t explain_vfork_on_error(void);

like... two little functions, both returning a pid_t, both taking exactly zero arguments. minimalism ate 💅

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

okay so here's the vibe. explain_vfork_or_die is the function you call when you want to call the vfork(2) system call. and if it fails? bestie, it does not let you live in ignorance. an explanation gets printed to stderr, obtained from the explain_vfork(3) function, and then the process just... terminates, by calling exit(EXIT_FAILURE). dramatic? yes. effective? also yes 😭

and then there's explain_vfork_on_error — same deal, it calls the vfork(2) system call too. on failure an explanation will be printed to stderr, also obtained from the explain_vfork(3) function. the difference? this one still returns to the caller. it's giving "I told you what went wrong, now handle it yourself, main character" ✨

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👑 RETURN VALUE 👑

explain_vfork_or_die only returns on success — see vfork(2) for more info. on failure it prints an explanation and exits. it does not return. like, at all. periodt 💀

explain_vfork_on_error always returns the value returned by the wrapped vfork(2) system call. always. every single time. no cap.

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🎀 EXAMPLE 🎀

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

pid_t result = explain_vfork_or_die();

look at that. one line. iconic. go off 🍓

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• vfork(2) — create a child process and block parent
• explain_vfork(3) — explain vfork(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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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🧚✨ this was brought to you by libexplain version 1.4, with Copyright (C) 2009 Peter Miller holding it down at the bottom — mwah, thanks Peter, you ate 💅🫶⭐