freebsd-skq/share/man/man3/assert.3

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.\" @(#)assert.3 8.1 (Berkeley) 6/9/93
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.\" $FreeBSD$
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.\"
.Dd May 31, 2018
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.Dt ASSERT 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm assert
.Nd expression verification macro
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.In assert.h
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.Fn assert expression
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn assert
macro tests the given
.Ar expression
and if it is false,
the calling process is terminated.
A diagnostic message is written to
.Dv stderr
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and the function
.Xr abort 3
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is called, effectively terminating the program.
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.Pp
If
.Ar expression
is true,
the
.Fn assert
macro does nothing.
.Pp
The
.Fn assert
macro
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may be removed at compile time by defining
.Dv NDEBUG
as a macro
(e.g., by using the
.Xr cc 1
option
.Fl D Ns Dv NDEBUG ) .
Unlike most other include files,
.In assert.h
may be included multiple times.
Each time whether or not
.Dv NDEBUG
is defined determines the behavior of assert from that point forward
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until the end of the unit or another include of
.In assert.h .
.Pp
The
.Fn assert
macro should only be used for ensuring the developer's expectations
hold true.
It is not appropriate for regular run-time error detection.
.Sh EXAMPLES
The assertion:
.Dl "assert(1 == 0);"
generates a diagnostic message similar to the following:
.Dl "Assertion failed: (1 == 0), function main, file main.c, line 100."
.Pp
The following assert tries to assert there was no partial read:
.Dl "assert(read(fd, buf, nbytes) == nbytes);"
However, there are two problems.
First, it checks for normal conditions, rather than conditions that
indicate a bug.
Second, the code will disappear if
.Dv NDEBUG
is defined, changing the semantics of the program.
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.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr abort2 2 ,
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.Xr abort 3
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Fn assert
macro conforms to
.St -isoC-99 .
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.Sh HISTORY
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An
.Nm
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macro appeared in
.At v7 .