getpwent

GETPWENT(3)                Linux Programmer's Manual               GETPWENT(3)



NAME
       getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry

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

       struct passwd *getpwent(void);

       void setpwent(void);

       void endpwent(void);

DESCRIPTION
       The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a structure containing the
       broken out fields of a line from /etc/passwd.  The  first  time  it  is
       called  it  returns  the first entry; thereafter, it returns successive
       entries.

       The setpwent() function rewinds the file pointer to  the  beginning  of
       the /etc/passwd file.

       The endpwent() function closes the /etc/passwd file.

       The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:

              struct passwd {
                      char    *pw_name;       /* user name */
                      char    *pw_passwd;     /* user password */
                      uid_t   pw_uid;         /* user id */
                      gid_t   pw_gid;         /* group id */
                      char    *pw_gecos;      /* real name */
                      char    *pw_dir;        /* home directory */
                      char    *pw_shell;      /* shell program */
              };

RETURN VALUE
       The  getpwent() function returns the passwd structure, or NULL if there
       are no more entries or an error occurs.

ERRORS
       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

FILES
       /etc/passwd
              password database file

CONFORMING TO
       SVID 3, BSD 4.3

SEE ALSO
       fgetpwent(3),   getpwnam(3),   getpwuid(3),   getpw(3),    putpwent(3),
       passwd(5)



GNU                               1996-05-27                       GETPWENT(3)