[net.news.b] watmath.3082: Identify program error messages, please!

trt (07/26/82)

It would be helpful if the C runtime startoff routine
provided a global variable which identified the program's name.
For example,
	extern char *cmdname;
cmdname would point to the last component of argv[0],
so a program as "/usr/bin/news" would have cmdname "news".

idallen (07/29/82)

I like the idea of the C runtime setting up cmdname.  I invariably do
this myself (using argv[0]) whenever I write a user routine.  However,
don't just provide a pointer to argv[0] in cmdname!  Please copy the
string so that programs that step on argv[0] don't wipe out their name.
	-IAN!  U of Waterloo  (decvax!watmath!idallen)