From:	Weiqi Gao <weiqigao AT a DOT crl DOT com>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: Do Error Messages Really Help?
Date:	Tue, 24 Aug 1999 19:17:31 -0500
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Martin Peach wrote:
> 
> It sure would be useful to have stuff like ENOENT written out in long, I
> keep trying to guess what it might possibly stand for.
> "Error no Entry"? "Eno ain't here?" "Exit not Entrance?"  Surely there is
> not a DOS-like (8.3) limit on symbolic names?

That's where the documentation comes in.  Ever heard of it? the
documentation?  Thoese *d.zip archives?  Those are meant to be read by
the programmer.

Not everything can be explained in an intuitive way.  No matter how hard
you try, their is always someone who don't understand.  It is not the
compiler's job to teach.  To compiler compiles programs written by
programmers.  And the programmer is assumed to have some level of
understanding of how it works, including the meaning of ENOENT.

The GNU C library documentation is actually quite a pleasant read.  The
edition that I have has a section that explains all the error codes, up
to "EIOIO -- Go home and have a glass of dairy-fresh milk."

--
Weiqi Gao
weiqigao AT a DOT crl DOT com

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