networks(4)						     Kernel Interfaces Manual						       networks(4)

NAME

       networks - network name data base

DESCRIPTION

       The  file associates Internet (IP) addresses with official network names and aliases.  This allows the user to refer to a network by a sym-
       bolic name instead of using an Internet address.  For each network, a single line should be present with the following information:

	      <official network name>	<network number>   <aliases>

       Aliases are other names under which a network is known.	For example:

       where the network named is also called

       A line cannot start with a blank (tab or space character).  Items are separated by any number or combination of blanks.	A character  indi-
       cates  the  beginning  of  a comment.  Characters from the up to the end of the line are not interpreted by routines which search the file.
       Trailing blanks are allowed at the end of a line.  For the Internet, this file is normally created from the official network database main-
       tained  at  the	Network Information Control Center (NIC), though local changes may be required to bring it up-to-date regarding unofficial
       aliases and/or unknown networks.

       Network numbers can be specified in conventional Internet dot notation using the routine from the  internet  address  manipulation  library
       (see inet(3N).  Network names can contain any printable character other than a white space, new-line, or comment character.

EXAMPLES

       See

AUTHOR

       was developed by the University of California, Berkeley.

FILES

SEE ALSO

       getnetent(3N).

																       networks(4)