The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
IEEE Std 1003.1-2008
Copyright © 2001-2008 The IEEE and The Open Group

NAME

endhostent, gethostent, sethostent - network host database functions

SYNOPSIS

#include <netdb.h>

void endhostent(void);
struct hostent *gethostent(void);
void sethostent(int
stayopen);

DESCRIPTION

These functions shall retrieve information about hosts. This information is considered to be stored in a database that can be accessed sequentially or randomly. The implementation of this database is unspecified.

Note:
In many cases this database is implemented by the Domain Name System, as documented in RFC 1034, RFC 1035, and RFC 1886.

The sethostent() function shall open a connection to the database and set the next entry for retrieval to the first entry in the database. If the stayopen argument is non-zero, the connection shall not be closed by a call to gethostent(), and the implementation may maintain an open file descriptor.

The gethostent() function shall read the next entry in the database, opening and closing a connection to the database as necessary.

Entries shall be returned in hostent structures.

The endhostent() function shall close the connection to the database, releasing any open file descriptor.

These functions need not be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, the gethostent() function shall return a pointer to a hostent structure if the requested entry was found, and a null pointer if the end of the database was reached or the requested entry was not found.

ERRORS

No errors are defined for endhostent(), gethostent(), and sethostent().


The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

None.

APPLICATION USAGE

The gethostent() function may return pointers to static data, which may be overwritten by subsequent calls to any of these functions.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

SEE ALSO

endservent

XBD <netdb.h>

CHANGE HISTORY

First released in Issue 6. Derived from the XNS, Issue 5.2 specification.

Issue 7

Austin Group Interpretation 1003.1-2001 #156 is applied.

End of informative text.

 

return to top of page

UNIX ® is a registered Trademark of The Open Group.
POSIX ® is a registered Trademark of The IEEE.
Copyright © 2001-2008 The IEEE and The Open Group, All Rights Reserved
[ Main Index | XBD | XSH | XCU | XRAT ]