The clnt_sperrno routine returns a pointer to a string. Use this routine instead if: o The server does not have a stderr file; many servers do not. o You want to save the string. o You do not want to use fprintf to print the message. o The message format is different from the one that clnt_perrno supports. The address that clnt_sperrno returns is a pointer to the error message string for the error. Therefore, you do not have to copy the string to your own buffer in order to save the string.