From: "A. Sinan Unur" Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: Help: what they are for? Date: Wed, 07 Jan 1998 17:06:27 -0500 Organization: Cornell University (http://www.cornell.edu/) Lines: 21 Sender: asu1 AT cornell DOT edu (Verified) Message-ID: <34B3FC63.5FDE0605@cornell.edu> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: cu-dialup-0002.cit.cornell.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Precedence: bulk Ivo Stoykov wrote: > I found two functions int libc which have only quoted (from info > file) help. Unfortunately it is very unclear to me. Could > somebody explain me more comprehensive what they are for? And what > means 42 returned value? these functions are there for unix compatibility i guess. unix is an inherently multiuser system which has provisions for establishing privileges based on users and groups of users. there is no corresponding functionality in the DOS world, so the functions always return the same value. i guess 42 was chosen because of its fame. (see: The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series: Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams.) -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Sinan Unur Department of Policy Analysis and Management, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA mailto:sinan DOT unur AT cornell DOT edu http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/asu1/