Why is there no std::on_exit?

Question

A program can exit with a variety of different status codes.
I'd like to bind an exit handler as a catch all way of handling final tasks based on this status code.
Is it possible to dispatch on the status code from within the exit handler?
As far as I can tell, No.

Therefore, I am unable to obtain the status value, as shown in this small example:

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdlib>

int Get_Return_Code(){
  //can this be implemented?
  return 0;
}

void Exit_Handler() {

    // how do I get the return code
    // from within the exit heandler?
    auto return_code = Get_Return_Code(); //?

    // I'd like to make decisions based on the return code
    // while inside my exit handler
    if (return_code == EXIT_SUCCESS){
      std::cout << "perform exit successful tasks...\n";
    }
    else {
      std::cout << "perform exit failure tasks...\n";
    }
}

int main(int argc,  char** argv) 
{
    //bind the exit handler routine
    if (std::atexit(Exit_Handler)){
      std::cerr << "Registration failed\n";
      return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }

    //if an argument is passed, exit with success
    //if no argument is passed, exit with failure
    if (argc > 1){
      std::cout << "exiting with success\n";
      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

    std::cout << "exiting with failure\n";
    return EXIT_FAILURE;
}

Is there a reason that C++ does not yet include on_exit?
I'm concerned about cross-compatibility in the windows world.

in regards to the code base:
My goal for doing this, does not involve memory management. We have an existing code base. There are exit statements everywhere. When a program exits with error, I'd like to display what that error code means to the user. In my mind, this is the fastest solution without major refactoring.

Answer 1

The easiest and most portable solution would be to wrap your program inside a shell script or other program. This wrapping script or program can then check the exit code and display the appropriate message to the user.