GETLOGIN(3)                          BSD                           GETLOGIN(3)



NAME
     getlogin - get log-in name

SYNOPSIS
     char *getlogin()

DESCRIPTION
     getlogin returns a pointer to the log-in name as found in /etc/utmp.  It
     may be used in conjunction with getpwnam to locate the correct password
     file entry when the same user ID is shared by several login names.

     If getlogin is called within a process that is not attached to a
     terminal, or if there is no entry in /etc/utmp for the process' terminal,
     getlogin returns a NULL pointer (0).  A reasonable procedure for
     determining the log-in name is to first call getlogin and, if it fails,
     to call getpwuid(getuid()).

FILES
     /etc/utmp

SEE ALSO
     getpwent(3), utmp(5), ttyslot(3)

DIAGNOSTICS
     Returns a NULL pointer (0) if name is not found.

BUGS
     The return values point to static data whose content is overwritten by
     each call.