UEXTERR_GETTEXT(3)

✨ UEXTERR_GETTEXT(3) ✨

okay so bestie, this one lives in section 3 of the manual (that's the library functions girlies 💅), and it's literally called uexterr_gettext — the whole vibe is "get the string representation of the current extended error." iykyk 🦋

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🎀 NAME 🎀

uexterr_gettext — get the string representation of the current extended error 💖

📚 LIBRARY 📚

Standard C Library (libc, -lc) — she's built in, no extra fetching required ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <exterr.h>

int
uexterr_gettext(char *buffer, size_t buffer_size);

💫 DESCRIPTION 💫

okay so picture this: uexterr_gettext fills the buffer that the buffer pointer points at with the formatted extended null-terminated error string — the one reported by the last error from a system call that returned an extended error 🌈. the capacity of the buffer you pass in is buffer_size bytes, so like, know your limits bestie 🫶.

normally, applications should use the err(3) family of functions to display errors from system calls — that's the standard route, no cap. but if that's not convenient or honestly not even possible (think apps with an advanced user interface 👑), then uexterr_gettext is your girl for fetching the string with the extended error 💅.

heads up though: most parts of the extended errors are directly provided by the kernel, and as such cannot be localized 😭. so don't come for her about the translations, she literally can't.

see exterror(9) for the description of the extended error facilities — that's the deep lore if you want it 📖.

🔥 RETURN VALUES 🔥

the function returns zero. periodt. there are currently no errors defined for the function, which might change in future 👀 (character development is possible).

if any error condition gets added, it will be reported by returning -1 and setting errno to the corresponding value 💀.

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• errno(3)
• err(3)
• exterror(9)

⭐ STANDARDS ⭐

uexterr_gettext is a FreeBSD extension that first appeared in FreeBSD 15.0 🌟. she's new here but she's already iconic.

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mwah 💋 — this page came from the Debian crew, dated Feburary 17, 2026 (yes that's how it's spelled on the page, i'm not touching it, it's canon now 🙈). stay hydrated, read your man pages, and remember: kernel strings don't localize themselves 🧚‍♀️💜