xref: /netbsd-src/external/bsd/libbind/dist/doc/getipnodebyname.cat3 (revision 5bbd2a12505d72a8177929a37b5cee489d0a1cfd)

GETIPNODEBYNAME(3)     FreeBSD Library Functions Manual     GETIPNODEBYNAME(3)

NNAAMMEE
     ggeettiippnnooddeebbyynnaammee, ggeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr -- get network host entry
     ffrreeeehhoosstteenntt -- free network host entry

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
     ##iinncclluuddee <<nneettddbb..hh>>

     _s_t_r_u_c_t _h_o_s_t_e_n_t _*
     ggeettiippnnooddeebbyynnaammee(_c_o_n_s_t _c_h_a_r _*_n_a_m_e, _i_n_t _a_f, _i_n_t _f_l_a_g_s, _i_n_t _*_e_r_r_o_r);

     _s_t_r_u_c_t _h_o_s_t_e_n_t _*
     ggeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr(_c_o_n_s_t _v_o_i_d _*_a_d_d_r, _s_i_z_e___t _l_e_n, _i_n_t _a_f, _i_n_t _*_e_r_r_o_r);

     _v_o_i_d
     ffrreeeehhoosstteenntt(_s_t_r_u_c_t _h_o_s_t_e_n_t _*_h_e);

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
     GGeettiippnnooddeebbyynnaammee(), and ggeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr() each return a pointer to a
     _h_o_s_t_e_n_t structure (see below) describing an internet host referenced by
     name or by address, as the function names indicate.  This structure con-
     tains either the information obtained from the name server, or broken-out
     fields from a line in _/_e_t_c_/_h_o_s_t_s.  If the local name server is not run-
     ning, these routines do a lookup in _/_e_t_c_/_h_o_s_t_s.

           struct  hostent {
                   char    *h_name;        /* official name of host */
                   char    **h_aliases;    /* alias list */
                   int     h_addrtype;     /* host address type */
                   int     h_length;       /* length of address */
                   char    **h_addr_list;  /* list of addresses from name server */
           };

           #define h_addr  h_addr_list[0]  /* address, for backward compatibility */

     The members of this structure are:

     h_name       Official name of the host.

     h_aliases    A zero-terminated array of alternate names for the host.

     h_addrtype   The type of address being returned.

     h_length     The length, in bytes, of the address.

     h_addr_list  A zero-terminated array of network addresses for the host.
                  Host addresses are returned in network byte order.

     h_addr       The first address in h_addr_list; this is for backward com-
                  patibility.

     This structure should be freed after use by calling ffrreeeehhoosstteenntt().

     When using the nameserver, ggeettiipphhoossttbbyyaaddddrr() will search for the named
     host in each parent domain given in the ``search'' directive of
     resolv.conf(5) unless the name contains a dot (``.'').  If the name con-
     tains no dot, and if the environment variable HOSTALIASES contains the
     name of an alias file, the alias file will first be searched for an alias
     matching the input name.  See hostname(7) for the domain search procedure
     and the alias file format.

     GGeettiipphhoossttbbyyaaddddrr() can be told to look for IPv4 addresses, IPv6 addresses
     or both IPv4 and IPv6.  If IPv4 addresses only are to be looked up then
     _a_f should be set to AF_INET, otherwise it should be set to AF_INET6.

     There are three flags that can be set

     AI_V4MAPPED    Return IPv4 addresses if no IPv6 addresses are found.
                    This flag is ignored unless _a_f is AF_INET6.

     AI_ALL         Return IPv4 addresses as well IPv6 addresses if
                    AI_V4MAPPED is set.  This flag is ignored unless _a_f is
                    AF_INET6.

     AI_ADDRCONFIG  Only return addresses of a given type if the system has an
                    active interface with that type.

     Also AI_DEFAULT is defined to be (AI_V4MAPPED|AI_ADDRCONFIG).

     GGeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr() will lookup IPv4 mapped and compatible addresses in the
     IPv4 name space and IPv6 name space

     FFrreeeehhoosstteenntt() frees the hostent structure allocated be ggeettiippnnooddeebbyynnaammee()
     and ggeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr().  The structures returned by ggeetthhoossttbbyynnaammee(),
     ggeetthhoossttbbyynnaammee22(), ggeetthhoossttbbyyaaddddrr() and ggeetthhoosstteenntt() should not be passed
     to ffrreeeehhoosstteenntt() as they are pointers to static areas.

EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT
     HOSTALIASES    Name of file containing (_h_o_s_t _a_l_i_a_s, _f_u_l_l _h_o_s_t_n_a_m_e) pairs.

FFIILLEESS
     /etc/hosts     See hosts(5).

DDIIAAGGNNOOSSTTIICCSS
     Error return status from ggeettiippnnooddeebbyynnaammee() and ggeettiippnnooddeebbyyaaddddrr() is indi-
     cated by return of a null pointer.  In this case _e_r_r_o_r may then be
     checked to see whether this is a temporary failure or an invalid or
     unknown host.  _e_r_r_n_o can have the following values:

           NETDB_INTERNAL    This indicates an internal error in the library,
                             unrelated to the network or name service.  _e_r_r_n_o
                             will be valid in this case; see perror.

           HOST_NOT_FOUND    No such host is known.

           TRY_AGAIN         This is usually a temporary error and means that
                             the local server did not receive a response from
                             an authoritative server.  A retry at some later
                             time may succeed.

           NO_RECOVERY       Some unexpected server failure was encountered.
                             This is a non-recoverable error, as one might
                             expect.

           NO_ADDRESS        The requested name is valid but does not have an
                             IP address; this is not a temporary error.  This
                             means that the name is known to the name server
                             but there is no address associated with this
                             name.  Another type of request to the name server
                             using this domain name will result in an answer;
                             for example, a mail-forwarder may be registered
                             for this domain.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
     hosts(5), hostname(7), resolver(3), resolver(5), gethostbyname(3),
     RFC2553.

4th Berkeley Distribution     September 17, 1999     4th Berkeley Distribution