getnetent() -- Sockets Function

Fetch a network entry
#include <netdb.h>
struct netent *getnetent();

getnetent()  fetches a  network  entry.  It  reads  the next  line of  file
/etc/network,  which  describes  all entities  on  your  local network;  if
necessary, it opens this file.

getnetent() returns a pointer to an object of type netend, which is defined
in header file <netdb.h>:


struct netent {
    char *n_name;   /* official name of net */
    char **n_aliases;   /* alias list */
    int n_addrtype; /* net number type */
    unsigned long n_net;    /* net number */
};

The following describes the members:

n_name
     The official name of the network.

n_aliases
     This  points to  a  zero-terminated list  of alternate  names for  the
     network.

n_addrtype
     The type of the  network number returned; currently, only type AF_INET
     is recognized.

n_net
     The network's  number.  Network numbers are  returned in the machine's
     byte order.

getnetent() returns a pointer to the netent structure it built.  It returns
NULL if something went wrong or if it has reached the end of /etc/networks.
You must call function endnetent() to close /etc/networks.

See Also

getnetbyaddr(),
getnetbyname(),
endnetent(),
libsocket,
netdb.h,
setnetent()

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness