Error Codes

Declared in: be/support/Errors.h

Error codes are returned by various functions to indicate the success or to describe the failure of a requested operation.

All Be error constants except for B_OK (B_NO_ERROR) are negative integers; any function that returns an error code can thus be lazily tested for success or failure by the following:

   if ( funcCall() < B_NO_ERROR )
      /* failure */
   else
      /* success */

All constants (except B_NO_ERROR and B_ERROR) are less than or equal to the value of the B_ERRORS_END constant. If you want to define your own negative-valued error codes, you should begin with the value (B_ERRORS_END + 1) and work your way toward 0.

POSIX Errors

The BeOS supports the POSIX error code constants (these constants start with the letter "E", as in EBADF or ENOENT). A number of Be-defined constants are synonyms for the POSIX constants; for example, the Be equivalent for ENOENT is B_ENTRY_NOT_FOUND.

Most of the General Error Codes, and all the File System Error Codes are covers for POSIX errors. The POSIX equivalents are listed where applicable.

The POSIX constants, and the Be synonyms, can be passed to the POSIX strerror() function. The function, defined in posix/string.h, returns a human-readable description of the error:

   char *strerror(int error_code)

General Error Codes

Code	POSIX	Description
B_NO_MEMORY	ENOMEM	There isn't enough memory for the operation
B_IO_ERROR	EIO	A general input/output error occurred
B_PERMISSION_DENIED	EACCESS	Illegal access
B_BAD_INDEX		The index is out of range
B_BAD_VALUE	EINVAL	An illegal value was passed to the function
B_MISMATCHED_VALUES		Conflicting values were passed to the function
B_BAD_TYPE		An illegal argument type was named or passed
B_NAME_NOT_FOUND		There's no match for the specified name.
B_NAME_IN_USE		The requested (unique) name is already used
B_BUSY	EBUSY	A device is busy, or a file is locked
B_NOT_ALLOWED	EPERM	Operation not allowed
B_NO_INIT		An object or structure isn't properly initialized
B_TIMED_OUT	ETIMEDOUT	Time expired before the operation was finished
B_INTERRUPTED	EINTR	A signal interrupted the operation
B_WOULD_BLOCK	EAGAIN	But you don't want to block
B_WOULD_BLOCK	EWOULD BLOCK	Same as the above
B_ERROR = –1		A convenient catchall for general errors
B_NO_ERROR = 0		Everything's OK
B_OK		Same as B_NO_ERROR

File System Error Codes

Code	POSIX	Description
B_FILE_ERROR	EBADF	A file error occurred
B_FILE_EXISTS	EEXIST	And you don't want to clobber it
B_ENTRY_NOT_FOUND	ENOENT	The requested entry doesn't exist
B_NAME_TOO_LONG	ENAME TOOLONG	Leaf or pathname too long
B_NO_MORE_FDS	EMFILE	No more file descriptors
B_NOT_A_DIRECTORY	ENOTDIR	When it should have been
B_IS_A_DIRECTORY	EISDIR	When it shouldn't be
B_DIRECTORY_NOT_EMPTY	ENOTEMPTY	Attempt to delete a non-empty directory
B_DEVICE_FULL	ENOSPC	Full disk
B_READ_ONLY_DEVICE	EROFS	Write request on a read-only file system
B_CROSS_DEVICE_LINK	EXDEV	Hard link across devices not allowed
B_LINK_LIMIT	ELOOP	Nested links too deep
B_BUSTED_PIPE	EPIPE	Pipe no longer functional.
B_UNSUPPORTED		An unsupported operation was attempted.
B_PARTITION_TOO_SMALL		A partition is too small for the attempted operation.

Application Kit Error Codes

Code	Description
B_DUPLICATE_REPLY	A reply message has already been sent
B_BAD_REPLY	The reply message is inappropriate and can't be sent
B_BAD_HANDLER	The designated message handler isn't valid
B_MESSAGE_TO_SELF	A thread is trying to send a message to itself
B_ALREADY_RUNNING	The application can't be launched again
B_LAUNCH_FAILED	The attempt to launch the application failed
B_AMBIGUOUS_APP_LAUNCH	Odd things happening in app land
B_UNKOWN_MIME_TYPE	Application signature unknown
B_BAD_SCRIPT_SYNTAX	Script syntax malformed
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_NO_RESOLVE_LINK	Unable to resolve a link to the application to be launched
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_EXECUTABLE	The attempt to launch the application failed because the application isn't a valid executable
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_APP_NOT_FOUND	The attempt to launch the application failed because the application wasn't found
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_APP_IN_TRASH	The attempt to launch the application failed because the application was in the trash
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_NO_PREFERRED_APP	The attempt to launch the application failed because there is no preferred application for the document
B_LAUNCH_FAILED_FILES_APP_NOT_FOU ND	The attempt to launch the application failed because the document's application is missing
B_BAD_MIME_SNIFFER_RULE	A MIME type sniffer rule is invalid

Kernel Kit Error Codes

Code	Description
B_BAD_THREAD_ID	Specified thread identifier (thread_id) is invalid
B_BAD_THREAD_STATE	The thread is in the wrong state for the operation
B_NO_MORE_THREADS	All thread identifiers are currently taken
B_BAD_TEAM_ID	Specified team identifier (team_id) is invalid
B_NO_MORE_TEAMS	All team identifiers are currently taken
B_BAD_PORT_ID	Specified port identifier (port_id) is invalid
B_NO_MORE_PORTS	All port identifiers have been taken
B_BAD_SEM_ID	Semaphore identifier (sem_id) is invalid
B_NO_MORE_SEMS	All semaphores are currently taken
B_BAD_IMAGE_ID	Specified image identifier (image_id)is invalid
B_NOT_AN_EXECUTABLE	An executable image was expected
B_BAD_ADDRESS	Illegal address
B_MISSING_LIBRARY	A library needed by an application is missing
B_MISSING_SYMBOL	A symbol needed by an application is missing
B_DEBUGGER_ALREADY_ INSTALLED	An attempt was made to install the debugger when it was already installed.

Media Kit Error Codes

Code	Description
B_MEDIA_SYSTEM_FAILURE	The media system has failed spectacularly
B_MEDIA_BAD_NODE	An invalid or nonexistent node was specified
B_MEDIA_NODE_BUSY	The specified node was busy
B_MEDIA_BAD_FORMAT	The specified media_format is invalid
B_MEDIA_TOO_MANY_NODE S	The media system has reached its limit of nodes
B_MEDIA_TOO_MANY_BUFFE RS	The media system has too many buffers
B_MEDIA_NODE_ALREADY_EX ISTS	Trying to create a node that already exists is a no-no
B_MEDIA_BUFFER_ALREADY_E XISTS	Trying to create a buffer that already exists is a bad idea
B_MEDIA_CANNOT_SEEK	A seek failure occurred
B_MEDIA_CANNOT_CHANGE _RUN_MODE	Unable to change run mode
B_MEDIA_APP_ALREADY_REGI STERED	An application has already registered with the media system
B_MEDIA_APP_NOT_REGISTER ED	An application hasn't registered with the media system
B_MEDIA_CANNOT_RECLAIM_ BUFFERS	Reclaiming of BBuffers failed
B_MEDIA_BUFFERS_NOT_RECL AIMED	BBuffers weren't reclaimed
B_MEDIA_TIME_SOURCE_STOP PED	The time source isn't running
B_MEDIA_TIME_SOURCE_BUSY	The time source is busy
B_MEDIA_BAD_SOURCE	The specified media_source is invalid
B_MEDIA_BAD_DESTINATION	The specified media_destination is invalid
B_MEDIA_ALREADY_CONNEC TED	Can't connect nodes that are already connected
B_MEDIA_NOT_CONNECTED	There's no connection in place
B_MEDIA_BAD_CLIP_FORMAT	The clip format isn't valid
B_MEDIA_ADDON_FAILED	An add-on failed
B_MEDIA_ADDON_DISABLED	The add-on is disabled
B_MEDIA_CHANGE_IN_PROG RESS	A change is in progress, preventing the requested action
B_MEDIA_STALE_CHANGE_CO UNT	The change count is stale
B_MEDIA_ADDON_RESTRICTE D	The add-on is restricted
B_MEDIA_NO_HANDLER	There's no handler available meeting the specified needs
B_MEDIA_DUPLICATE_FORMA T	The specified format already exists
B_MEDIA_REALTIME_DISABLED	Real-time memory allocation is disabled
B_MEDIA_REALTIME_UNAVAIL ABLE	Real-time memory allocation isn't available

Mail Errors

Code	Description
B_MAIL_NO_DAEMON	mail_daemon not running
B_MAIL_UNKNOWN_USER	User unknown
B_MAIL_WRONG_PASSWORD	Password doesn't match user
B_MAIL_UNKNOWN_HOST	POP or SMTP host unrecognized
B_MAIL_ACCESS_ERROR	Couldn't access host
B_MAIL_UNKNOWN_FIELD	Unrecognized message field name
B_MAIL_NO_RECIPIENT	Return to sender, address unknown
B_MAIL_INVALID_MAIL	Invalid mail invalid mail invalid

Device Kit Errors

Code
B_DEV_INVALID_IOCTL
B_DEV_NO_MEMORY
B_DEV_BAD_DRIVE_NUM
B_DEV_NO_MEDIA
B_DEV_UNREADABLE
B_DEV_FORMAT_ERROR
B_DEV_TIMEOUT
B_DEV_RECALIBRATE_ERROR
B_DEV_SEEK_ERROR
B_DEV_ID_ERROR
B_DEV_READ_ERROR
B_DEV_WRITE_ERROR
B_DEV_NOT_READY
B_DEV_MEDIA_CHANGED