Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!shelby!portia!forel!karish From: karish@forel.stanford.edu (Chuck Karish) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: exit codes Keywords: pick-a-number, any-number Message-ID: <4616@portia.Stanford.EDU> Date: 18 Aug 89 15:32:02 GMT References: <33@dgis.daitc.mil> Sender: USENET News SystemReply-To: karish@forel.stanford.edu (Chuck Karish) Organization: Mindcraft, Inc. Lines: 13 In article <33@dgis.daitc.mil> generous@dgis.daitc.mil (Curtis Generous) wrote: >Has there ever been a consensus about what a `well-behaved` UN*X program >should return in both normal and error conditions. No. The exit status values for most utilities aren't documented at all in UN*X manuals. The POSIX 1003.2 committee is standardizing returns. Until their work is accepted, it will be an adventure to use utility return values in scripts that are meant to be portable. Chuck Karish karish@mindcraft.com (415) 493-9000 karish@forel.stanford.edu