NAME

getpwuid, getpwnam, getpwent, setpwent, endpwent, setpwfile − user database access

SYNOPSIS

#include <sys/types.h>
#include <pwd.h>

struct passwd ∗getpwuid(uid_t uid)

struct passwd ∗getpwnam(const char ∗name)

(ALSO AVAILABLE IN BSD)

struct passwd ∗getpwent(void);

void setpwent(void);

void endpwent(void);

void setpwfile(char ∗name);

DESCRIPTION

The getpwuid and getpwnam functions both return a pointer to a passwd structure containing an entry from the system’s user (password) database with a matching numeric user ID (uid) or a user login name (name). 

The passwd structure is defined in the header <pwd.h> and includes the following members:

Member TypeMember Name Description

char ∗pw_name Login name. 

uid_tpw_uid Numerical user ID. 

gid_tpw_gid Numerical group ID. 

char ∗pw_dir Pathname of home directory. 

char ∗pw_shell Initial user (shell) program. 

char ∗pw_passwd User password. (BSD only; not POSIX-compliant)

The passwd structure may contain more implementation-specific members than those listed here;see passwd(5) for more information.

The BSD routines setpwent, getpwent, endpwent, and setpwfile may be used to scan the user database sequentially.  setpwent resets the current user password structure to the first in the database, getpwent reads and returns the next user password entry, and endpwent closes the user password database when processing is complete.  In addition, setpwfile may be called to set the database to that given in file name, which is a file in passwd(5) format. Setpwfile doesn’t close the previous password file; endpwent should be used before setpwfile.

NOTES

The value returned points to a static area; if the information is to be saved, it must be copied. 

RETURN VALUE

A NULL pointer is returned on error or if the requested entry is not found. 

FILES

/etc/passwd − if NetInfo is not running, or if YellowPages is enabled. 

SEE ALSO

getlogin(3), getgrent(3), lookupd(8), netinfo(5), passwd(5)

7th Edition  —  August 1, 1992