osx man page for networks

NETWORKS(5)						      BSD File Formats Manual						       NETWORKS(5)

NAME
     networks -- network name data base

DESCRIPTION
     The networks file contains information regarding the known networks which comprise the DARPA Internet.  For each network a single line should
     be present with the following information:

	   official network name
	   network number
	   aliases

     Items are separated by any number of blanks and/or tab characters.  A ``#'' indicates the beginning of a comment; characters up to the end of
     the line are not interpreted by routines which search the file.  This file is normally created from the official network data base maintained
     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 number may be specified in the conventional ``.''	(dot) notation using the inet_network(3) routine from the Internet address manipu-
     lation library, inet(3).  Network names may contain any printable character other than a field delimiter, newline, or comment character.

INTERACTION WITH DIRECTORY SERVICES
     Processes generally find network records using one of the getnetent(3) family of functions.  On Mac OS X, these functions interact with the
     DirectoryService(8) daemon, which reads the /etc/networks file as well as searching other directory information services to determine network
     name and address information.

FILES
     /etc/networks

SEE ALSO
     getnetent(3), DirectoryService(8)

HISTORY
     The networks file format appeared in 4.2BSD.

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					   June 5, 1993 					 4.2 Berkeley Distribution