ERROR(1)                                                              ERROR(1)


NAME
       error - analyze and disperse compiler error messages

SYNOPSIS
       error [ -n ] [ -s ] [ -q ] [ -v ] [ -t suffixlist ] [ -I ignorefile ] [
       name ]

DESCRIPTION
       Error analyzes and optionally disperses the diagnostic  error  messages
       produced by a number of compilers and language processors to the source
       file and line where the errors occurred.  It can replace  the  painful,
       traditional methods of scribbling abbreviations of errors on paper, and
       permits error messages and source  code  to  be  viewed  simultaneously
       without machinations of multiple windows in a screen editor.

       Error  looks at the error messages, either from the specified file name
       or from the standard input, and attempts to  determine  which  language
       processor  produced  each error message, determines the source file and
       line number to which the error message refers, determines if the  error
       message  is  to  be  ignored or not, and inserts the (possibly slightly
       modified) error message into the source file as a comment on  the  line
       preceding  to  which the line the error message refers.  Error messages
       which can’t be categorized by language processor  or  content  are  not
       inserted  into  any  file,  but are sent to the standard output.  Error
       touches source files only after all input has been read.  By specifying
       the  -q query option, the user is asked to confirm any potentially dan‐
       gerous (such as touching a file) or verbose  action.   Otherwise  error
       proceeds  on its merry business.  If the -t touch option and associated
       suffix list is given, error will restrict itself to  touch  only  those
       files  with  suffices  in the suffix list.  Error also can be asked (by
       specifying -v) to invoke vi(1) on the files  in  which  error  messages
       were  inserted;  this  obviates  the  need to remember the names of the
       files with errors.

       Error is intended to be run with its standard  input  connected  via  a
       pipe  to  the error message source.  Some language processors put error
       messages on their standard error file; others put their messages on the
       standard  output.   Hence,  both error sources should be piped together
       into error.  For example, when using the csh syntax,

              make -s lint |& error -q -v

       will analyze all the error messages produced by whatever programs  make
       runs when making lint.

       Error  knows about the error messages produced by: make, cc, cpp, ccom,
       as, ld, lint, pi, pc, f77, and DEC Western  Research  Modula-2.   Error
       knows  a  standard  format  for error messages produced by the language
       processors, so is sensitive to changes in these formats.  For all  lan‐
       guages  except Pascal, error messages are restricted to be on one line.
       Some error messages refer to more than one line in more than one files;
       error  will  duplicate  the  error  message and insert it at all of the
       places referenced.

       Error will do one of six things with error messages.

       synchronize
                 Some language  processors  produce  short  errors  describing
                 which  file  it is processing.  Error uses these to determine
                 the file name for languages that don’t include the file  name
                 in  each  error  message.  These synchronization messages are
                 consumed entirely by error.

       discard   Error messages from lint that refer to one of  the  two  lint
                 libraries,  /usr/lib/llib-lc  and /usr/lib/llib-port are dis‐
                 carded,  to  prevent  accidently  touching  these  libraries.
                 Again, these error messages are consumed entirely by error.

       nullify   Error  messages from lint can be nullified if they refer to a
                 specific function, which is  known  to  generate  diagnostics
                 which  are not interesting.  Nullified error messages are not
                 inserted into the source file, but are written to  the  stan‐
                 dard output.  The names of functions to ignore are taken from
                 either the file named .errorrc in the users’s home directory,
                 or  from  the  file named by the -I option.  If the file does
                 not exist, no error messages are nullified.  If the file does
                 exist, there must be one function name per line.

       not file specific
                 Error  messages  that can’t be intuited are grouped together,
                 and written to the  standard  output  before  any  files  are
                 touched.  They will not be inserted into any source file.

       file specific
                 Error  message  that refer to a specific file, but to no spe‐
                 cific line, are written to the standard output when that file
                 is touched.

       true errors
                 Error messages that can be intuited are candidates for inser‐
                 tion into the file to which they refer.

       Only true error messages are candidates for  inserting  into  the  file
       they  refer to.  Other error messages are consumed entirely by error or
       are written to the standard output.  Error inserts the  error  messages
       into  the  source file on the line preceding the line the language pro‐
       cessor found in error.  Each error message is turned into  a  one  line
       comment  for  the  language,  and is internally flagged with the string
       ‘‘###’’ at the beginning of the error, and ‘‘%%%’’ at the  end  of  the
       error.   This makes pattern searching for errors easier with an editor,
       and allows the messages to be easily removed.  In addition, each  error
       message contains the source line number for the line the message refers
       to.  A reasonably formatted source program can be recompiled  with  the
       error  messages  still  in  it, without having the error messages them‐
       selves cause future errors.  For poorly formatted  source  programs  in
       free  format languages, such as C or Pascal, it is possible to insert a
       comment into another comment, which can wreak havoc with a future  com‐
       pilation.  To avoid this, programs with comments and source on the same
       line should be formatted so that language statements appear before com‐
       ments.

       Options available with error are:

       -n   Do  not  touch any files; all error messages are sent to the stan‐
            dard output.

       -q   The user is queried whether s/he wants to touch the file.  A ‘‘y’’
            or ‘‘n’’ to the question is necessary to continue.  Absence of the
            -q option implies that all referenced files (except  those  refer‐
            ring to discarded error messages) are to be touched.

       -v   After  all  files  have been touched, overlay the visual editor vi
            with it set up to edit all files touched, and  positioned  in  the
            first  touched file at the first error.  If vi can’t be found, try
            ex or ed from standard places.

       -t   Take the following argument as a suffix list.   Files  whose  suf‐
            fixes  do  not  appear  in  the  suffix list are not touched.  The
            suffix list is dot separated, and ‘‘*’’ wildcards work.  Thus  the
            suffix list:

                 ".c.y.foo*.h"

            allows  error to touch files ending with ‘‘.c’’, ‘‘.y’’, ‘‘.foo*’’
            and ‘‘.y’’.

       -s   Print out statistics regarding the error categorization.  Not  too
            useful.

       Error  catches interrupt and terminate signals, and if in the insertion
       phase, will orderly terminate what it is doing.

AUTHOR
       Robert Henry

FILES
       ~/.errorrc          function names to ignore for lint error messages
       /dev/tty            user’s teletype

BUGS
       Opens the teletype directly to do user querying.

       Source files with links make a new copy of the file with only one  link
       to it.

       Changing  a  language  processor’s  format  of error messages may cause
       error to not understand the error message.

       Error, since it is purely mechanical, will not  filter  out  subsequent
       errors  caused  by ‘floodgating’ initiated by one syntactically trivial
       error.  Humans are  still  much  better  at  discarding  these  related
       errors.

       Pascal  error messages belong after the lines affected (error puts them
       before).  The alignment of the ‘|’ marking the point of error  is  also
       disturbed by error.

       Error  was  designed for work on CRT’s at reasonably high speed.  It is
       less pleasant on slow speed terminals, and has never been used on hard‐
       copy terminals.


4th Berkeley Distribution         May 5, 1986                         ERROR(1)
 
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