return alias_val;
 }
 
+#define SPLIT_CMDLINE_BAD_ENDING 1
+#define SPLIT_CMDLINE_UNCLOSED_QUOTE 2
+static const char *split_cmdline_errors[] = {
+       "cmdline ends with \\",
+       "unclosed quote"
+};
+
 int split_cmdline(char *cmdline, const char ***argv)
 {
        int src, dst, count = 0, size = 16;
                                if (!c) {
                                        free(*argv);
                                        *argv = NULL;
-                                       return error("cmdline ends with \\");
+                                       return -SPLIT_CMDLINE_BAD_ENDING;
                                }
                        }
                        cmdline[dst++] = c;
        if (quoted) {
                free(*argv);
                *argv = NULL;
-               return error("unclosed quote");
+               return -SPLIT_CMDLINE_UNCLOSED_QUOTE;
        }
 
        ALLOC_GROW(*argv, count+1, size);
        return count;
 }
 
+const char *split_cmdline_strerror(int split_cmdline_errno) {
+       return split_cmdline_errors[-split_cmdline_errno-1];
+}