strsignal
STRSIGNAL(3) Linux Programmer's Manual STRSIGNAL(3)
NAME
strsignal, sigdescr_np, sigdescr_np, sys_siglist - return string de-
scribing signal
SYNOPSIS
#include <string.h>
char *strsignal(int sig);
char *sigdescr_np(int sig);
char *sigabbrev_np(int sig);
extern const char * const sys_siglist[];
Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):
sigabbrev_np(), sigdescr_np():
_GNU_SOURCE
strsignal():
From glibc 2.10 to 2.31:
_POSIX_C_SOURCE >= 200809L
Before glibc 2.10:
_GNU_SOURCE
sys_siglist:
Since glibc 2.19:
_DEFAULT_SOURCE
Glibc 2.19 and earlier:
_BSD_SOURCE
DESCRIPTION
The strsignal() function returns a string describing the signal number
passed in the argument sig. The string can be used only until the next
call to strsignal(). The string returned by strsignal() is localized
according to the LC_MESSAGES category in the current locale.
The sigdescr_np() function returns a string describing the signal num-
ber passed in the argument sig. Unlike strsignal() this string is not
influenced by the current locale.
The sigabbrev_np() function returns the abbreviated name of the signal,
sig. For example, given the value SIGINT, it returns the string "INT".
The (deprecated) array sys_siglist holds the signal description strings
indexed by signal number. The strsignal() or the sigdescr_np() func-
tion should be used instead of this array; see also VERSIONS.
RETURN VALUE
The strsignal() function returns the appropriate description string, or
an unknown signal message if the signal number is invalid. On some
systems (but not on Linux), NULL may instead be returned for an invalid
signal number.
The sigdescr_np() and sigdabbrev_np() functions return the appropriate
description string. The returned string is statically allocated and
valid for the lifetime of the program. These functions return NULL for
an invalid signal number.
VERSIONS
sigdescr_np() and sigdabbrev_np() first appeared in glibc 2.32.
Starting with version 2.32, the sys_siglist symbol is no longer ex-
ported by glibc.
ATTRIBUTES
For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see at-
tributes(7).
+---------------+---------------+---------------------------------+
|Interface | Attribute | Value |
+---------------+---------------+---------------------------------+
|strsignal() | Thread safety | MT-Unsafe race:strsignal locale |
+---------------+---------------+---------------------------------+
|sigdescr_np(), | Thread safety | MT-Safe |
|sigabbrev_np() | | |
+---------------+---------------+---------------------------------+
CONFORMING TO
strsignal(): POSIX.1-2008. Present on Solaris and the BSDs.
sigdescr_np() and sigdabbrev_np() are GNU extensions.
sys_siglist is nonstandard, but present on many other systems.
NOTES
sigdescr_np() and sigdabbrev_np() are thread-safe and async-signal-
safe.
SEE ALSO
psignal(3), strerror(3)
COLOPHON
This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A
description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
latest version of this page, can be found at
https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
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