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NAME

       explain - explain system call error messages

SYNOPSIS

       explain [ option ...  ] function [ argument ...  ]

       explain --version

DESCRIPTION

       The  explain  command  is  used  to decode an error return read from an
       strace(1) listing, or silimar.  Because thisd is being deciphered in  a
       different  process  than the orginal, the results will be less accurate
       than if the program itself were to use libexplain(3).

   Functions
       The functions understood include:

       accept fildes addr addrlen
               The accept(2) system call.

       accept4 fildes [[ sock_addr sock_addr_size ] flags ]
               The accept4(2) system call.

       access pathname
               The access(2) system call.

       acct pathname
               The acct(2) system call.

       adjtime delta olddelta
               The adjtime(2) system call.

       adjtimex data
               The adjtimex(2) system call.

       bind fildes addr sockaddr_size
               The bind(2) system call.

       chdir pathname
               The chdir(2) system call.

       chmod pathname permission-mode
               The chmod(2) system call.

       chown pathname owner group
               The chown(2) system call.

       chroot pathname
               The chroot(2) system call.

       close fildes
               The close(2) system call.

       closedir dir
               The closedir(3) system call.

       connect fildes serv_addr serv_addr_size
               The connect(2) system call.

       creat pathname [ permission-mode
               The creat(2) system call.

       dirfd dir
               The dirfd(3) system call.

       dup fildes
               The dup(2) system call.

       dup2 oldfd newfd
               The dup2(2) system call.

       eventfd initval flags
               The eventfd(2) system call.

       execve pathname arg...
               The execve(2) system call.

       execvp pathname arg...
               The execvp(3) system call.

       fchdir pathname
               The fchdir(2) system call.

       fchown fildes owner group
               The fchown(2) system call.

       fcntl fildes command [ arg ]
               The fcntl(2) system call.

       fdopen fd mode
               The fdopen(3) system call.

       ferror fp
               The ferror(3) system call.

       fflush fp
               The fflush(3) system call.

       fgetc fp
               The fgetc(3) system call.

       fgets data data_size fp
               The fgets(3) system call.

       fileno fp
               The fileno(3) system call.

       flock fildes command
               The flock(2) system call.

       fork    The fork(2) system call.

       fpathconf fildes name
               The fpathconf(3) system call.

       fread ptr size nmemb fp
               The fread(3) system call.

       fopen pathname mode
               The fopen(2) system call.  The pathname argument may need to be
               quoted  to insulate white space and punctuation from the shell.
               The mode argument (a textual  equivalent  of  the  open  system
               call’s flags argument).  See fopen(3) for more information.

       fputc c [ fp ]
               The fputc(3) system call.

       fstat pathname
               The fstat(2) system call.

       fstatfs fildes data
               The fstatfs(2) system call.

       ftime tp
               The ftime(3) system call.

       ftruncate fildes length
               The ftruncate(2) system call.

       futimes fildes tv[0] tv[1]
               The futimes(3) system call.

       getc fp The getc(3) system call.

       getchar The getchar(3) system call.

       getcwd buf size
               The getcwd(2) system call.

       getdomainname data data_size
               The getdomainname(2) system call.

       getgroups data_size data
               The getgroups(2) system call.

       getpeername fildes sock_addr sock_addr_size
               The getpeername(2) system call.

       gethostname [ data data_size ]
               The gethostname(2) system call.

       setsockopt fildes level name data data_size
               The setsockopt(2) system call.

       getrlimit resource rlim
               The getrlimit(2) system call.

       getsockname fildes [ sock_addr [ sock_addr_size ]]
               The getsockname(2) system call.

       getsockopt fildes level name data data_size
               The getsockopt(2) system call.

       gettimeofday [ tv [ tz ] ]
               The gettimeofday(2) system call.

       ioctl fildes request data
               The ioctl(2) system call.

       kill pid sig
               The kill(2) system call.

       lchown pathname owner group
               The lchown(2) system call.

       link oldpath newpath
               The link(2) system call.

       listen fildes backlog
               The listen(2) system call.

       lseek fildes offset whence
               The lseek(2) system call.

       lstat pathname
               The lstat(2) system call.

       malloc size
               The malloc(3) system call.

       mkdir pathname [ mode ]
               The mkdir(2) system call.

       nice inc
               The nice(2) system call.

       open pathname flags [ mode ]
               The  open(2) system call.  The pathname argument may need to be
               quoted to insulate white space and punctuation from the  shell.
               The  flags  argument  may  be  numeric  or  symbolic.  The mode
               argument may be numeric or symbolic.

       opendir pathname
               The opendir(3) system call.

       pathconf pathname name
               The pathconf(3) system call.

       pclose fp
               The pclose(3) system call.

       pipe pipefd
               The pipe(2) system call.

       popen command flags
               The popen(3) system call.

       pread fildes data data_size offset
               The pread(2) system call.

       putc c fp
               The putc(3) system call.

       putchar c
               The putchar(3) system call.

       pwrite fildes data data_size offset
               The pwrite(2) system call.

       read fildes data data-size
               The read(2) system call.

       realloc ptr size
               The realloc(3) system call.

       rename oldpath newpath
               The rename(2) system call.

       readv fildes iov ...
               The readv(2) system call.

       select nfds readfds writefds exceptfds timeout
               The select(2) system call.

       setdomainname data data_size
               The setdomainname(2) system call.

       setgroups data_size data
               The setgroups(2) system call.

       sethostname name [ name_size ]
               The sethostname(2) system call.

       signalfd fildes mask flags
               The signalfd(2) system call.

       socket domain type protocol
               The socket(2) system call.

       stat pathname
               The stat(2) system call.

       statfs pathname data
               The statfs(2) system call.

       strdup data
               The strdup(3) system call.

       strerror
               The error given will be printed out with all known detail.

       strndup data data_size
               The strndup(3) system call.

       strtod nptr endptr
               The strtod(3) system call.

       strtof nptr endptr
               The strtof(3) system call.

       strtol nptr endptr base
               The strtol(3) system call.

       strtold nptr endptr
               The strtold(3) system call.

       strtoll nptr endptr base
               The strtoll(3) system call.

       strtoul nptr endptr base
               The strtoul(3) system call.

       strtoull nptr endptr base
               The strtoull(3) system call.

       symlink oldpath newpath
               The symlink(2) system call.

       system command
               The system(3) system call.

       tcdrain fildes
               The tcdrain(3) system call.

       tcflow fildes action
               The tcflow(3) system call.

       tcflush fildes selector
               The tcflush(3) system call.

       tcgetattr fildes data
               The tcgetattr(3) system call.

       tcsendbreak fildes duration
               The tcsendbreak(3) system call.

       tcsetattr fildes options data
               The tcsetattr(3) system call.

       telldir dir
               The telldir(3) system call.

       time t  The time(2) system call.

       timerfd_create clockid flags
               The timerfd_create(2) system call.

       truncate pathname size
               The truncate(2) system call.

       unlink pathname
               The unlink(2) system call.

       ustat dev ubuf
               The ustat(2) system call.

       utime pathname [ times ]
               The utime(2) system call.

       wait status
               The wait(2) system call.

       wait3 status options rusage
               The wait3(2) system call.

       wait4 pid status options rusage
               The wait4(2) system call.

       waitpid pid status options
               The waitpid(2) system call.

       write fildes data data-size
               The write(2) system call.

       writev fildes data data_size
               The writev(2) system call.

       Do not include the perentheses used to make the call.

OPTIONS

       The explain command understands the following options:

       -e number
               The value of errno as a number (e.g. 2), or as a  symbol  (e.g.
               ENOENT),  or  as  the text of its meaning (e.g. No such file or
               directory).  You  will  need  quotes  to  insulate  spaces  and
               punctuation from the shell.

       -V      Print the version of the explain executing.

EXIT STATUS

       The  explain  command  exits  with  status 1 on any error.  The explain
       command only exits with status 0 if there are no errors.

COPYRIGHT

       explain version 0.19
       Copyright (C) 2008, 2009 Peter Miller

AUTHOR

       Written by Peter Miller <pmiller@opensource.org.au>

                                                                    explain(1)