linux man page for endpwent

GETPWENT(3)						     Linux Programmer's Manual						       GETPWENT(3)

NAME
       getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/types.h>
       #include <pwd.h>

       struct passwd *getpwent(void);

       void setpwent(void);

       void endpwent(void);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       getpwent(), setpwent(), endpwent():
	   _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE >= 500 || _XOPEN_SOURCE && _XOPEN_SOURCE_EXTENDED

DESCRIPTION
       The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a structure containing the broken-out fields of a record from the password database (e.g., the
       local password file /etc/passwd, NIS, and LDAP).  The first time getpwent() is called, it returns the first entry; thereafter,  it  returns
       successive entries.

       The setpwent() function rewinds to the beginning of the password database.

       The endpwent() function is used to close the password database after all processing has been performed.

       The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:

	   struct passwd {
	       char   *pw_name;       /* username */
	       char   *pw_passwd;     /* user password */
	       uid_t   pw_uid;	      /* user ID */
	       gid_t   pw_gid;	      /* group ID */
	       char   *pw_gecos;      /* real name */
	       char   *pw_dir;	      /* home directory */
	       char   *pw_shell;      /* shell program */
	   };

       When  shadow(5)	passwords are enabled (which is default on many GNU/Linux installations) the content of pw_passwd is usually not very use-
       ful.  In such a case most passwords are stored in a separate file.

       The variable pw_shell may be empty, in which case the system will execute the default shell (/bin/sh) for the user.

RETURN VALUE
       The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a passwd structure, or NULL if there are no more entries or an error  occured.   If  an  error
       occurs, errno is set appropriately.  If one wants to check errno after the call, it should be set to zero before the call.

       The  return  value  may point to a static area, and may be overwritten by subsequent calls to getpwent(), getpwnam(3), or getpwuid(3).  (Do
       not pass the returned pointer to free(3).)

ERRORS
       EINTR  A signal was caught.

       EIO    I/O error.

       EMFILE The maximum number (OPEN_MAX) of files was open already in the calling process.

       ENFILE The maximum number of files was open already in the system.

       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

       ERANGE Insufficient buffer space supplied.

FILES
       /etc/passwd
	      local password database file

CONFORMING TO
       SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.

SEE ALSO
       fgetpwent(3), getpw(3), getpwent_r(3), getpwnam(3), getpwuid(3), putpwent(3), shadow(5), passwd(5)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 3.27 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs,  can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU
								    2010-09-20							       GETPWENT(3)