Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!sri-spam!sri-unix!quintus!ok
From: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: VMS and exit();
Message-ID: <606@cresswell.quintus.UUCP>
Date: 30 Jan 88 01:39:40 GMT
References: <11537@brl-adm.ARPA>
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 22

There *is* a vmsexit().  It is called SYS$EXIT, and is described in
the System Services Manual (page SYS-152 in our copy).  A VMS error
code contains
	a severity code (bottom 3 bits, 0 = warning, 1 = success,)
	a subsystem code (RMS? SYS? DCL? FTN? and so on)
	the error code
	should-this-be-printed?
and something else which I don't remember.  Given that SYS$EXIT()
exists, there is no reason why exit() couldn't be this way:

void exit(n)
    int n;
    {
	n &= 255;
	C-library-shut-down;
	SYS$EXIT(n == 0 ? 1 :
		{severity = 2, subsystem = C, error code = n, don't print});
    }

This would manage to be consistent with both UNIX and VMS.
So I can't believe that EXIT_SUCCESS and EXIT_FAILURE were invented
for DEC's sake.