=pod

=head1 NAME

ERR_error_string - obtain human-readable error message

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 #include <openssl/err.h>

 char *ERR_error_string(unsigned long e, char *buf);

 const char *ERR_lib_error_string(unsigned long e);
 const char *ERR_func_error_string(unsigned long e);
 const char *ERR_reason_error_string(unsigned long e);

=head1 DESCRIPTION

ERR_error_string() generates a human-readable string representing the
error code B<e>, and places it at B<buf>. B<buf> must be at least 120
bytes long. If B<buf> is B<NULL>, the error string is placed in a
static buffer.

The string will have the following format:

 error:[error code]:[library name]:[function name]:[reason string]

I<error code> is an 8 digit hexadecimal number, I<library name>,
I<function name> and I<reason string> are ASCII text.

ERR_lib_error_string(), ERR_func_error_string() and
ERR_reason_error_string() return the library name, function
name and reason string respectively.

The OpenSSL error strings should be loaded by calling
L<ERR_load_crypto_strings(3)|ERR_load_crypto_strings(3)> or, for SSL
applications, L<SSL_load_error_strings(3)|SSL_load_error_strings(3)>
first.
If there is no text string registered for the given error code,
the error string will contain the numeric code.

L<ERR_print_errors(3)|ERR_print_errors(3)> can be used to print
all error codes currently in the queue.

=head1 RETURN VALUES

ERR_error_string() returns a pointer to a static buffer containing the
string if B<buf == NULL>, B<buf> otherwise.

ERR_lib_error_string(), ERR_func_error_string() and
ERR_reason_error_string() return the strings, and B<NULL> if
none is registered for the error code.

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<err(3)|err(3)>, L<ERR_get_error(3)|ERR_get_error(3)>,
L<ERR_load_crypto_strings(3)|ERR_load_crypto_strings(3)>,
L<SSL_load_error_strings(3)|SSL_load_error_strings(3)>
L<ERR_print_errors(3)|ERR_print_errors(3)>

=head1 HISTORY

ERR_error_string() is available in all versions of SSLeay and OpenSSL.

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