xref: /netbsd-src/lib/libcompat/4.4/cuserid.3 (revision ae9172d6cd9432a6a1a56760d86b32c57a66c39c)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
13.\"    must display the following acknowledgement:
14.\"	This product includes software developed by the University of
15.\"	California, Berkeley and its contributors.
16.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
17.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
18.\"    without specific prior written permission.
19.\"
20.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
21.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
22.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
23.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
24.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
25.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
26.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
27.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
28.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
29.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
30.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
31.\"
32.\"     from: @(#)ctermid.3	5.2 (Berkeley) 4/19/91
33.\"	$Id: cuserid.3,v 1.1 1994/05/19 06:20:26 jtc Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd November 28, 1993
36.Dt CUSERID 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm cuserid
40.Nd get user name
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Fd #include <stdio.h>
43.Ft char *
44.Fn cuserid "char *buf"
45.Sh DESCRIPTION
46The
47.Fn cuserid
48function returns a character string representation of the user name
49associated with the effective user ID of the calling process.
50.Pp
51If
52.Fa buf
53is not the
54.Dv NULL
55pointer, the user name is copied into the memory referenced by
56.Fa buf .
57The argument
58.Fa buf
59is assumed to point to an array at least
60.Dv L_cuserid
61(as defined in the include
62file
63.Aq Pa stdio.h )
64bytes long.
65Otherwise, the user name is copied to a static buffer.
66.Pp
67.Sh RETURN VALUES
68If
69.Fa buf
70is not the
71.Dv NULL
72pointer,
73.Fa buf
74is returned;
75otherwise the address of the static buffer is returned.
76.Pp
77If the user name could not be determined, if
78.Fa buf
79is not the
80.Dv NULL
81pointer, the null character
82.Sq \e0
83will be stored at
84.Fa *buf ;
85otherwise
86the
87.Dv NULL
88pointer is returned.
89.Sh SEE ALSO
90.Xr getlogin 2 ,
91.Xr getpwent 3
92.Sh STANDARDS
93The
94.Fn cuserid
95function conforms to
96.St -p1003.1-88 .
97.Sh BUGS
98Due to irreconcilable differences in historic implementations,
99.Fn cuserid
100was removed from the
101.St -p1003.1-90
102standard.
103This implementation exists purely for compatibility with existing programs.
104New programs should use one of the following three alternatives to
105obtain the user name:
106.Pp
107.Bl -enum -offset indent -compact
108.It
109.Fn getlogin
110to return the user's login name.
111.It
112.Nm getpwuid Ns Pq Fn geteuid
113to return the user name associated with the calling process' effective user ID.
114.It
115.Nm getpwuid Ns Pq Fn getuid
116to return the user name associated with the calling process' real user ID.
117.El
118.Pp
119The
120.Fn cuserid
121function uses
122.Fn getpwuid ;
123thus the results of a user's call to
124.Fn getpwent ,
125.Fn getpwnam
126or
127.Fn getpwuid
128will be overwritten by subsequent calls to
129.Fn cuserid .
130