Set error if exit_status indicates the child exited abnormally
(e.g. with a nonzero exit code, or via a fatal signal).
The Spawn.sync and g_child_watch_add() family of APIs return an
exit status for subprocesses encoded in a platform-specific way.
On Unix, this is guaranteed to be in the same format waitpid() returns,
and on Windows it is guaranteed to be the result of GetExitCodeProcess().
Prior to the introduction of this function in GLib 2.34, interpreting
exit_status required use of platform-specific APIs, which is problematic
for software using GLib as a cross-platform layer.
Additionally, many programs simply want to determine whether or not
the child exited successfully, and either propagate a GError or
print a message to standard error. In that common case, this function
can be used. Note that the error message in error will contain
human-readable information about the exit status.
The domain and code of error have special semantics in the case
where the process has an "exit code", as opposed to being killed by
a signal. On Unix, this happens if WIFEXITED() would be true of
exit_status. On Windows, it is always the case.
The special semantics are that the actual exit code will be the
code set in error, and the domain will be G_SPAWN_EXIT_ERROR.
This allows you to differentiate between different exit codes.
If the process was terminated by some means other than an exit
status, the domain will be G_SPAWN_ERROR, and the code will be
G_SPAWN_ERROR_FAILED.
This function just offers convenience; you can of course also check
the available platform via a macro such as G_OS_UNIX, and use
WIFEXITED() and WEXITSTATUS() on exit_status directly. Do not attempt
to scan or parse the error message string; it may be translated and/or
change in future versions of GLib.
Set error if exit_status indicates the child exited abnormally (e.g. with a nonzero exit code, or via a fatal signal).
The Spawn.sync and g_child_watch_add() family of APIs return an exit status for subprocesses encoded in a platform-specific way. On Unix, this is guaranteed to be in the same format waitpid() returns, and on Windows it is guaranteed to be the result of GetExitCodeProcess().
Prior to the introduction of this function in GLib 2.34, interpreting exit_status required use of platform-specific APIs, which is problematic for software using GLib as a cross-platform layer.
Additionally, many programs simply want to determine whether or not the child exited successfully, and either propagate a GError or print a message to standard error. In that common case, this function can be used. Note that the error message in error will contain human-readable information about the exit status.
The domain and code of error have special semantics in the case where the process has an "exit code", as opposed to being killed by a signal. On Unix, this happens if WIFEXITED() would be true of exit_status. On Windows, it is always the case.
The special semantics are that the actual exit code will be the code set in error, and the domain will be G_SPAWN_EXIT_ERROR. This allows you to differentiate between different exit codes.
If the process was terminated by some means other than an exit status, the domain will be G_SPAWN_ERROR, and the code will be G_SPAWN_ERROR_FAILED.
This function just offers convenience; you can of course also check the available platform via a macro such as G_OS_UNIX, and use WIFEXITED() and WEXITSTATUS() on exit_status directly. Do not attempt to scan or parse the error message string; it may be translated and/or change in future versions of GLib.