1 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/H5private.h b/src/H5private.h
index 2435191..058dedf 100644
--- a/src/H5private.h
+++ b/src/H5private.h
@@ -28,6 +28,20 @@
 #define HDF5_SHAREDHEADER_VERSION 0     /* of the Shared-Header Info      */
 
 /*
+ * Status return values for the `herr_t' type.
+ * Since some unix/c routines use 0 and -1 (or more precisely, non-negative
+ * vs. negative) as their return code, and some assumption had been made in
+ * the code about that, it is important to keep these constants the same
+ * values.  When checking the success or failure of an integer-valued
+ * function, remember to compare against zero and not one of these two
+ * values.
+ */
+#define SUCCEED         0
+#define FAIL            (-1)
+#define UFAIL           (unsigned)(-1)
+
+
+/*
  * Include those things that almost all source files need.
  */
 #ifdef STDC_HEADERS