libc/gen/getpwent.3

         @(#)getpwent.3 6.3 (Berkeley) 05/15/86

 GETPWENT 3 ""
.AT 3
 NAME
getpwent, getpwuid, getpwnam, setpwent, endpwent, setpwfile - get password file entry
 SYNOPSIS
 #include <pwd.h>
 struct passwd *getpwuid(uid)  int uid;
 struct passwd *getpwnam(name)  char *name;
 struct passwd *getpwent()
 setpwent()
 endpwent()
 setpwfile(name)  char *name;
 DESCRIPTION
 Getpwent,  getpwuid and
 getpwnam each return a pointer to an object with the
following structure
containing the broken-out
fields of a line in the password file.


.so  /usr/include/pwd.h


The fields
 pw_quota and
 pw_comment are unused; the others have meanings described in
 passwd (5).
Searching of the password file is done using the ndbm
database access routines.
 Setpwent opens the database;
 endpwent closes it.
 Getpwuid and
 getpwnam search the database (opening it if necessary) for a matching
 uid or
 name . EOF is returned if there is no entry.

For programs wishing to read the entire database,
 getpwent reads the next
line (opening the database if necessary).
In addition to opening the database,
 setpwent can be used to make
 getpwent begin its search from the beginning of the database.

 Setpwfile changes the default password file to
 name thus allowing alternate password files to be used.
Note that it does
 not close the previous file.
If this is desired,
 endpwent should be called prior to it.
 FILES
/etc/passwd
 "SEE ALSO"
getlogin(3), getgrent(3), passwd(5)
 DIAGNOSTICS
The routines
 getpwent ,  getpwuid , and
 getpwnam , return a null pointer (0) on EOF or error.
 BUGS
All information
is contained in a static area
so it must be copied if it is
to be saved.