getpwent(3C)                                            getpwent(3C)


       NAME
             getpwent, getpwuid, getpwnam, setpwent, endpwent, fgetpwent -
             manipulate password file entry

       SYNOPSIS
             #include <pwd.h>
             #include <stdio.h>
             struct passwd *getpwent (void);
             struct passwd *getpwuid (uid_t uid);
             struct passwd *getpwnam (const char *name);
             void setpwent (void);
             void endpwent (void);
             struct passwd *fgetpwent (FILE *f);

       DESCRIPTION
             getpwent, getpwuid, and getpwnam each returns a pointer to an
             object with the following structure containing the broken-out
             fields of a line in the /etc/passwd file.  Each line in the
             file contains a passwd structure, declared in the pwd.h header
             file:

                   struct passwd {
                         char  *pw_name;
                         char  *pw_passwd;
                         uid_t pw_uid;
                         gid_t pw_gid;
                         char  *pw_age;
                         char  *pw_comment;
                         char  *pw_gecos;
                         char  *pw_dir;
                         char  *pw_shell;
                   };

             When first called, getpwent returns a pointer to the first
             passwd structure in the file; thereafter, it returns a pointer
             to the next passwd structure in the file.  Thus successive
             calls can be used to search the entire file.  getpwuid
             searches from the beginning of the file until a numerical user
             ID matching uid is found and returns a pointer to the
             particular structure in which it was found.  getpwnam searches
             from the beginning of the file until a login name matching
             name is found, and returns a pointer to the particular
             structure in which it was found.  If an end-of-file or an
             error is encountered on reading, these functions return a null
             pointer.



                           Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 1

      getpwent(3C)                                            getpwent(3C)


            A call to setpwent has the effect of rewinding the password
            file to allow repeated searches.  endpwent may be called to
            close the password file when processing is complete.

            fgetpwent returns a pointer to the next passwd structure in
            the stream f, which matches the format of /etc/passwd.

         Files
            /etc/passwd
            /var/yp/domainame/passwd.byname
            /var/yp/domainame/passwd.byuid

         Return Values
            getpwent, getpwuid, getpwnam, and fgetpwent return a null
            pointer on EOF or error.

      REFERENCES
            getgrent(3C), getlogin(3C), passwd(4)

      NOTICES
            All information is contained in a static area, so it must be
            copied if it is to be saved.

            Passwd structures will be obtained from NIS, when the dynamic
            versions of these routines are used and NIS is installed and
            running. See passwd(4) for the formats of NIS entries.






















                          Copyright 1994 Novell, Inc.               Page 2