Error conditions?

I'm writing a library function that does some file i/o (using the Windows API).

Granted, such a function will have to open files, create files, read files, and allocate memory for buffers, all of which have the distinct possibility of failing for one reason or another. I want to write proper code that anticipates and can deal with any problems, but I'm not sure which way to do this.

The really simple, cumbersome way I started was something like (pseudocode)

Code:

---

bool FileFunc ( string infilename, string outfilename, ... )
{
    bool result = false;

    <open input file for reading>

    if ( input file is open )
    {
        <open output file for writing>

        if ( output file is open )
        {
          <allocate buffer>

            if ( buffer is allocated )
            {
                <other code, etc.>

                if ( function succeeds )
                    result = true;

              <free buffer memory>
            }
          <close output file>
        }
        <close input file>
    }
    return result;
}

---

But somehow having up to a dozen nested if statements seemed wrong...

I also considered

Code:

---

int FileFunc ( ... )
{
    if ( input file is NOT open)
        return COULD_NOT_OPEN;
   
    ...

    if ( buffer is NOT allocated )
        return ALLOCATION_ERROR;

    ...

    return SUCCESS;
}

(or setting a global error variable to such values and just returning true/false, like errno...)

---

But then how would I close files and free memory unless I included the same cleanup function calls in every "if" block?

(In addition, I know the WinAPI supports exception raising / handling...)

So my question is, how would you recommend I handle numerous possible error conditions in a single function?

With goto.

Code:

---

int f(void)
{
  FILE *fp = NULL;
  char *s = NULL;

  s = malloc(64);
  if(s == NULL) goto err;

  fp = fopen("blah", "r");
  if(fp == NULL) goto err;

  return 0; /* success */

err:
  free(s);
  if(fp != NULL) fclose(fp);
  return -1; /* failure */
}

---

If you want to return specific error conditions, you could use a macro that both sets the error and jumps to the end of the function.

There are people who will tell you that goto should never be used. Ignore them. As you've discovered, while you can achieve your goal without using goto, it becomes very ugly.

Honestly, I never even considered goto because I've never heard anything good about using it. But supposing there's no elusive ideal solution, this seems like a great place for it (that a quick search seems to show is more or less acceptable to a lot of folks).

Thanks cas