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     PERROR(3)                                               PERROR(3)

     NAME
          perror, sys_errlist, sys_nerr - system error messages

     SYNOPSIS
          perror(s)
          char *s;

          int sys_nerr;
          char *sys_errlist[];

     DESCRIPTION
          Perror produces a short error message on the standard error
          file describing the last error encountered during a call to
          the system from a C program.  First the argument string s is
          printed, then a colon, then the message and a new-line.
          Most usefully, the argument string is the name of the pro-
          gram which incurred the error.  The error number is taken
          from the external variable errno (see intro(2)), which is
          set when errors occur but not cleared when non-erroneous
          calls are made.

          To simplify variant formatting of messages, the vector of
          message strings sys_errlist is provided; errno can be used
          as an index in this table to get the message string without
          the newline.  Sys_nerr is the number of messages provided
          for in the table; it should be checked because new error
          codes may be added to the system before they are added to
          the table.

     SEE ALSO
          intro(2)