Defect Report #134

Submission Date: 31 Jan 94
Submittor: Project Editor (P.J. Plauger)
Source: Clive Feather
Question
Subclause 7.11.6.2 The strerror function, page 168, reads:

The strerror function maps the error number in errnum to an error message string.

However, ``error number'' is an undefined term. Must strerror provide a valid message for every value of type int, or can some values be a domain error, allowing it to return garbage or a null pointer? If the latter, then what are the values that must generate a valid string? Must the following generate a valid string:
zero
EDOM and ERANGE
the value of any other symbol defined in <errno.h>
any value that a library routine might set errno to
Response
The strerror function must provide a valid message for the error numbers EDOM, ERANGE, and any other value a library function might store in errno. For all other values, the behavior is undefined.
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