Content-type: text/html Man page of getservbyname

getservbyname

Section: C Library Functions (3)
Index Return to Main Contents
 

NAME

getservbyname, getservbyname_r - Get a service entry by name  

LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc.so, libc.a)  

SYNOPSIS

#include <netdb.h>

struct servent *getservbyname(        const char *name,
       const char *proto);

[Digital]  The following obsolete function is supported in order to maintain backward compatibility with previous versions of the operating system. You should not use it in new designs. int getservbyname_r(        const char *name,
       const char *proto,
       struct servent *serv,
       struct servent_data *serv_data);
 

STANDARDS

Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:

getservbyname(): XPG4-UNIX

Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information about industry standards and associated tags.  

PARAMETERS

Specifies the official name or alias name of the service. Specifies the name of the protocol to use when contacting the service. [Digital]  For getservbyname_r() only, this points to the servent structure. The netdb.h header file defines the servent structure. [Digital]  For getservbyname_r() only, this is data for the services database. The netdb.h header file defines the servent_data structure.  

DESCRIPTION

The getservbyname() function returns a pointer to a structure of type servent. Its members specify data in fields from a record line in either the local /etc/services file or the NIS distributed network services database file. To determine which file or files to search, and in which order, the system uses the switches in the /etc/svc.conf file. The netdb.h header file defines the servent structure.

The getservbyname() function searches the network services database file sequentially until a match with the name parameter and with the proto parameter occurs. The name parameter can specify either the official name or its alias. When EOF (End-of-File) is reached without the match, a null pointer is returned by this subroutine. When the protocol name is not specified (proto parameter is NULL), the proto parameter need not be matched during the network services database file record search.

Use the endservent() function to close the network services database file.  

NOTES

The getservbyname() function returns a pointer to thread-specific data. Subsequent calls to this or a related function from the same thread overwrite this data.

[Digital]  The getservbyname_r() function is an obsolete reentrant version of the getservbyname() function. It is supported in order to maintain backward compatibility with previous versions of the operating system and should not be used in new designs. Note that you must zero-fill the servent_data structure before its first access by either the setservent_r() or getservbyname_r() function.  

RETURN VALUES

Upon successful completion, the getservbyname() function returns a pointer to a servent structure. If it fails or reaches the end of the network services database file, it returns a null pointer.

[Digital]  Upon successful completion, the getservbyname_r() function stores the servent structure in the location pointed to by serv, and returns a value of 0 (zero). Upon failure, it returns a value of -1.  

ERRORS

[Digital]  If any of the following conditions occurs, the getservbyname_r() function sets errno to the corresponding value: The serv or serv_data parameter is invalid. The search failed.

In addition, if the function fails to open the file, it sets errno to indicate the cause of the failure.  

FILES

The DARPA Internet network service-name database. Each record in the file occupies a single line and has four fields: the official service name, the port reference, protocol name, and aliases. The database service selection configuration file.  

RELATED INFORMATION

Functions: getservbyport(3), getservent(3), setservent(3), endservent(3).

Files: services(4), svc.conf(4).

Networks: nis_intro(7).

Standards: standards(5). delim off


 

Index

NAME
LIBRARY
SYNOPSIS
STANDARDS
PARAMETERS
DESCRIPTION
NOTES
RETURN VALUES
ERRORS
FILES
RELATED INFORMATION

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 02:41:40 GMT, October 02, 2010