PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(9)

💅 PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO

okay bestie, welcome to PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(9) from the Kernel API Manual ✨ this one is short, sweet, and honestly kind of iconic — it's a tiny helper that saves you from writing the same boring if block over and over.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO — Extract the error code from a pointer if it has one. 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

int PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO (__force const void *ptr );

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🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

• ptr — A potential error pointer. literally just a pointer that might be hiding an error code in it 👀

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So this is a convenience function, right? It's the one you call inside a function that returns an error code, when you want to propagate errors you received as error pointers. no extra steps, no drama 💅

Like, instead of writing this whole thing:

     if (IS_ERR(ptr))
             return PTR_ERR(ptr);
     else
             return 0;

you just go:

``return PTR_ERR_OR_ZERO(ptr);``

and that's it. it replaces the whole block above. slay ✨

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

The error code within ptr if it is an error pointer; 0 otherwise. so either you get the error code or you get a nice little zero, no in-between, no cap 🍓

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

Kernel file ./include/linux/err.h — and its whole friend group: IS_ERR_VALUE(9), ERR_PTR(9), INIT_ERR_PTR(9), PTR_ERR(9), IS_ERR(9), IS_ERR_OR_NULL(9), ERR_CAST(9) 👑

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that's the whole page bestie, it's giving "small function, big main character energy" 💜 huge thanks to ./include/linux, dated October 2026 — catch you in the next manpage, mwah 😭🎀