Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!imagen!qubix!wjvax!brett
From: brett@wjvax.UUCP (Brett Galloway)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: exit(-1)
Message-ID: <1185@wjvax.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jan 88 01:26:46 GMT
References: <502@cresswell.quintus.UUCP> <6935@brl-smoke.ARPA> <1179@wjvax.UUCP> <6983@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Reply-To: brett@wjvax.UUCP (Brett Galloway)
Organization: Watkins-Johnson Co., San Jose, Calif.
Lines: 44

In article <6983@brl-smoke.ARPA> gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>) writes:
>In article <1179@wjvax.UUCP> brett@wjvax.UUCP I wrote:
>>However, it is hard to conceive an implementation
>>which has multiple exit-success values.
>VMS does!
>I agree that probably all implementations, including VMS, will
>	#define	EXIT_SUCCESS	0

I overstated.  I even have applications which have multiple exit-success
values.  However, there was always one fundamental exit-success value.  I
feel that 0 is the best choice for this.

>>Instead of accommodating VMS's stupid choice of exit values, why not require
>>an ANSI-conforming VMS C compiler to swap 0 and 1 in the exit() in its C
>>library?
>We tried that, but many existing VMS applications have been passing
>the value of 1 (disguised as SYS$SUCCESS or something like that) to
>exit() to indicate success.

Not to beat a dead horse, but that's why I suggested swapping 0 and 1 in
exit() *and* simultaneously re-defining SYS$SUCCESS et al in the relevant
header file(s).  As I noted, this would break only unlinked binaries that
were not re-compiled.  I had said:

- The only time that there would be a problem would be a re-link without a
- re-compile.  Frankly, anybody that would not re-compile across a transition
- to an ANSI-conformant compiler deserves what they get.

One E-mail respondent took exception to my tone (deservedly, I believe).
However, I stand by my point.  It is unlikely that unlinked binaries will
survive across the transition to an ANSI C library.

>>This is apt, since VMS caused the problem in the first place.
>Actually, I agree with this, but since we found a solution that the
>VMS folk could live with, why not stick with it.

Of course the VMS folk could live with the ANSI C solution; it *is*
effectively the VMS solution.  It is a trivial matter for VMS to adapt to
this solution.

-- 
-------------
Brett D. Galloway
{ac6,calma,cerebus,isi,isieng,pyramid,tymix}!wjvax!brett