Linux / Unix Command: getpwent

Linux / Unix Command: getpwent

NAME

getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry 

SYNOPSIS

#include <pwd.h
>



#include <sys/types.h
>



struct passwd *getpwent(void);



void setpwent(void);



void endpwent(void);

DESCRIPTION

The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a structure containing the broken out fields of a line from /etc/passwd . The first time it is called it returns the first entry; thereafter, it returns successive entries.

The setpwent() function rewinds the file pointer to the beginning of the /etc/passwd file.

The endpwent() function closes the /etc/passwd file.

The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h > as follows:

struct passwd {

        char    *pw_name;       /* user name */

        char    *pw_passwd;     /* user password */

        uid_t   pw_uid;         /* user id */

        gid_t   pw_gid;         /* group id */

        char    *pw_gecos;      /* real name */

        char    *pw_dir;        /* home directory */

        char    *pw_shell;      /* shell program */

};

RETURN VALUE

The getpwent() function returns the passwd structure, or NULL if there are no more entries or an error occurs.  

ERRORS

ENOMEM

Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.