dce_msg_intro(3dce)
Introduction to the DCE messaging interface
Description
All DCE message texts are assigned a unique message ID. This is a 32-bit number, with the special value of all-bits-zero reserved to indicate success. All other
numbers are divided into a technology/component that identifies the message catalog, and an index into the catalog.
All messages for a given component are stored in a single message catalog generated by the sams utility when the component is built. (The messages may also be compiled into the application code, rendering the successful retrieval of message text independent of whether or not the message catalogs were correctly installed.)
In typical use, a message is first retrieved from a message catalog, allowing localization to occur. If this fails, the default message is retrieved from an in-memory table. If this fails, a fallback text identifying the message number is generated. The two most useful routines, dce_error_inq_text(~) and dce_msg_get( ), and the DCE printf routines follow these rules. The rest of this API gives direct access for special needs.
The dce_msg_cat_xxx( ) routines provide a DCE abstraction to standard message catalog routines, mapping DCE message IDs to message catalog names. They offer a convenient way of opening and accessing a message catalog simply by supplying the ID of a message contained in it, rather than the name of the catalog itself. Once opened, the catalog is accessed by means of an opaque handle (the dce_msg_cat_handle_t typedef).
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