hi i am a computer science graduate.....

[majidmajid]

hi i wana know about the return type of main( ) in c.
where is it returned ... and can we print the value anyhow.,

[Frinavale]

hi i wana know about the return type of main( ) in c.
where is it returned ... and can we print the value anyhow.,

Hi there,

The return value is returned to the Operating System when your program finishes.
It is used to indicate if something went wrong.

This return value is very useful for stuff like Bash Scripting in Linux/Unix where you call on a program to do something and depending on whether or not it fails do something.

Welcome to the scripts!

-Frinny

[MuraliCoder]

To print the value which was returned to Operating System, After u execution of the program u need to give "$?" command at shell.. it will show the value returned to OS.

[RedSon]

hi i wana know about the return type of main( ) in c.
where is it returned ... and can we print the value anyhow.,

When did you graduate?

[debisupi2007]

hi i wana know about the return type of main( ) in c.
where is it returned ... and can we print the value anyhow.,

Hi,
The main() can return any type of value you want like. It returns it value to the command prompt from where generally u execute the .exe file. The main() generally carry two types of argument one of which is numeric and otherone is character type.

[Motoma]

hi i wana know about the return type of main( ) in c.
where is it returned ... and can we print the value anyhow.,

The return value is given to whatever program started the executable. In shell scripting it would be the script, if you called it from inside another program, the program would recieve the returned value at the end of execution.
You can use this in scripting and programming to determin the execution flow of the program without having to do STDOUT redirection and analysis, as well as determing the final condition of the program.

[majidmajid]

plz guide me ...
i am coding in turbo c.
i wrote command "$?" at dos prompt...
but it doesnt recognize the command.. and plz send the details.
i hve to print the return type of main anyhow..
thnks

[Motoma]

In Windows, the variable is errorlevel, not $?.
You can use it on the command line as %errorlevel%, and in batch scripts as errorlevel.

[uppili]

can you compar the main and the function

[uppili]

mr. majidmajid



if you are very new to program then take tot and type one program and try to understand the statment and try to impliment it by your own. then you get nice kwl.

[uppili]

mr.majidmajid
display your code

it will be easy to guid you

[bitong]

question: what's the difference between return(0) and return value?

[Motoma]

question: what's the difference between return(0) and return value?

Example:
Program A runs. It does a return 0 for success, a return 1 for "invalid filename", and returns 2 for "invalid username"
Program B launches Program A:

int returnValue = exec("progA");
switch(returnValue)
{
  case 2:
     // invalid username
  case 1:
     // invalid filename
  case 0:
     // returns correctly
}
 

Does this make sense to you?

[uppili]

y we want to return the value for function

[Frinavale]

y we want to return the value for function

The main()'s return value is used by the calling program to determine how the program ended. This could be your operating system or it could be another script or program.

Example:

Program 1
Say we create a program which returns "1" in the case where it encountered an internal error and couldn't complete its processing...and in the case where it doesn't encounter an error and it's able to complete, we return "0".

Program 2
Say we create another program that calls our first program and displays an error message if our first program crashed and displays a "thank you" message if our first program didn't crash.

This program would use the value returned by your main() to determine which message to display.

Does this make sense?

-Frinny

[RedSon]

Example:
Program A runs. It does a return 0 for success, a return 1 for "invalid filename", and returns 2 for "invalid username"
Program B launches Program A:

int returnValue = exec("progA");
switch(returnValue)
{
  case 2:
     // invalid username
  case 1:
     // invalid filename
  case 0:
     // returns correctly
}
 

Does this make sense to you?

Don't forget your break; s or you will be returning correctly every time.