lockfile is a program that can "succeed" and "fail" in a number of
distinct ways that the caller may want to distinguish. As it says in
the manual page, "WARNINGS ... When testing lockfile's return value,
shell script writers should consider carefully whether they want to
use the -! flag, simply reverse the test, or do a switch on the exact
exit‐code."
Unfortunately, the manual page does not describe the exit status
values, or how to distinguish the two success cases (ordinary success,
and forcing the lock).
So I propose to add this section to the manual page:
EXIT STATUS
Success is indicated by an exit status of 0. Success after a
timed-out lockfile was removed by force is indicated by an exit
status of 0 with output to standard error including the text "Forcing
lock on". Failure because the number of retries was reached is
indicated by an exit status of EX_CANTCREAT from sysexits.h (usually
73). Other failures are indicated by other non-zero exit statuses.
All failures produce specific messages to standard error.
If the -! flag is in effect, success is indicated by EX_CANTCREAT and
retry failure is indicated by 0.
I believe that this is correct and complete.
Dale
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