getpwent(3)						     Library Functions Manual						       getpwent(3)

Name
       getpwent, getpwuid, getpwnam, setpwent, endpwent, setpwfile - get password entry

Syntax
       #include <pwd.h>

       struct passwd *getpwent()

       struct passwd *getpwuid(uid)
       uid_t uid;

       struct passwd *getpwnam(name)
       char *name;

       void setpwent()

       void endpwent()

       void setpwfile(pathname)
       char *pathname

Description
       The  routines,  and each return a pointer to an object with the following structure containing the broken-out fields of a line in the pass-
       word database:
       struct  passwd { /* see getpwent(3) */
	       char    *pw_name;
	       char    *pw_passwd;
	       uid_t	pw_uid;
	       gid_t	pw_gid;
	       int	pw_quota;
	       char    *pw_comment;
	       char    *pw_gecos;
	       char    *pw_dir;
	       char    *pw_shell;
       };

       struct passwd *getpwent(), *getpwuid(), *getpwnam();

       The fields pw_quota and pw_comment are unused; the others have meanings described in

       A call to has the effect of rewinding the password file to allow repeated searches.  may be called to close the password database when pro-
       cessing is complete.

       The subroutine simply retrieves the next entry while and search until a matching uid or name is found (or until all entries are exhausted).
       The subroutine keeps a pointer in the database, allowing successive calls to be used to search the entire database.

       A call to must be made before a loop using in order to perform initialization and an must be used after the loop.  Both and make  calls	to
       and

       The  subroutine	sets  the pathname of the ASCII passwd file and optional hashed database to be used for local passwd lookups.  If a passwd
       file has been left open by a call to or will close it first.  does not directly affect the use of distributed passwd databases.

Restrictions
       All information is contained in a static area so it must be copied if it is to be saved.

       If YP is running, does not return the entries in any particular order.  See the Guide to the Yellow Pages Service for setup information.

       The password database may also be distributed via the BIND/Hesiod naming service.  See the Guide to the BIND/Hesiod Service for more infor-
       mation.

Return Values
       Null pointer (0) returned on EOF or error.

Files
See Also
       getlogin(3), passwd(5), svc.conf(5)
       Guide to the BIND/Hesiod Service
       Guide to the Yellow Pages Service

																       getpwent(3)