bsd man page for gettable

GETTABLE(8)						      System Manager's Manual						       GETTABLE(8)

NAME
       gettable - get NIC format host tables from a host

SYNOPSIS
       /usr/sbin/gettable [ -v ] host [ outfile ]

DESCRIPTION
       Gettable  is a simple program used to obtain the NIC standard host tables from a ``nicname'' server.  The indicated host is queried for the
       tables.	The tables, if retrieved, are placed in the file outfile or by default, hosts.txt.

       The -v option will get just the version number instead of the complete host table and put the output in the file  outfile  or  by  default,
       hosts.ver.

       Gettable  operates  by opening a TCP connection to the port indicated in the service specification for ``nicname''.  A request is then made
       for ``ALL'' names and the resultant information is placed in the output file.

       Gettable is best used in conjunction with the htable(8) program which converts the NIC standard file format to that  used  by  the  network
       library lookup routines.

SEE ALSO
       intro(3N), htable(8), named(8)

BUGS
       If the name-domain system provided network name mapping well as host name mapping, gettable would no longer be needed.

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					 November 17, 1996						       GETTABLE(8)