htable(ADMN)                    19 June 1992                    htable(ADMN)


 Name

    htable - convert NIC standard format host tables

 Syntax

    /etc/htable [ -c connected-nets ] [ -l local-nets ] file

 Description

    htable is used to convert host files in the format specified in Internet
    RFC 810 to the format used by the network library routines.  Three files
    are created as a result of running htable:  hosts, networks, and gate-
    ways.  The hosts file may be used by the gethostbyname(SLIB) routines in
    mapping host names to addresses if the nameserver, named(ADMN), is not
    used.  The networks file is used by the getnetent(SLIB) routines in map-
    ping network names to numbers.  The gateways file may be used by the
    routing daemon in identifying ``passive'' Internet gateways; see
    routed(ADMN) for an explanation.

    If any of the files localhosts, localnetworks, or localgateways are
    present in the current directory, the file's contents is prepended to the
    output file.  Of these, only the gateways file is interpreted.  This
    allows sites to maintain local aliases and entries which are not normally
    present in the master database.  Only one gateway to each network will be
    placed in the gateways file; a gateway listed in the localgateways file
    will override any in the input file.

    If the gateways file is to be used, a list of networks to which the host
    is directly connected is specified with the -c flag.  The networks,
    separated by commas, may be given by name or in Internet-standard dot
    notation, for example, -c arpanet,128.32,local-ether-net.  htable only
    includes gateways which are directly connected to one of the networks
    specified, or which can be reached from another gateway on a connected
    net.

    If the -l option is given with a list of networks (in the same format as
    for -c), these networks will be treated as ``local'', and information
    about hosts on local networks is taken only from the localhosts file.
    Entries for local hosts from the main database will be omitted.  This
    allows the localhosts file to completely override any entries in the
    input file.

    htable is best used in conjunction with the gettable(ADMN) program which
    retrieves the NIC database from a host.

 See also

    Intro(ADMP), gettable(ADMN), named(ADMN)