getutent() -- General Function (libc)

Read an entry from a login logging file
#include <utmp.h>
struct utmp *getutent()

getutent() reads the next entry from the file that holds login information.
If the file is not open, getutent() opens it.  By default, getutent() reads
file /etc/utmp. To change this, call utmpname().

getutent() returns  the address of  the record it  has read from  the login
file.   This  object  has  type  utmp,  which is  defined  in  header  file
<utmp.h>;  for a  detailed  description of  this  structure, see  the
Lexicon entry  for utmp.h.  getutent() returns NULL  if it cannot  open the
login file, or when it attempts to read past the end of the file.

See Also

libc,
utmp.h

Notes

getutent() writes its utmp record into a static portion of memory, which it
overwrites the next time it is called.  Therefore, if you wish to save utmp
record, you  must copy it into  a portion of memory  that you define before
you again call getutent().

© 2012 by Stephen A. Ness