exit codes

[Chuck Karish]

In article <33 at dgis.daitc.mil> generous at 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 at mindcraft.com
	(415) 493-9000		karish at forel.stanford.edu