1ENDHOSTENT(3P)             POSIX Programmer's Manual            ENDHOSTENT(3P)
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PROLOG

6       This  manual  page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The Linux
7       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the  corresponding
8       Linux  manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9       not be implemented on Linux.
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NAME

12       endhostent, gethostent, sethostent - network host database functions
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SYNOPSIS

15       #include <netdb.h>
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17       void endhostent(void);
18       struct hostent *gethostent(void);
19       void sethostent(int stayopen);
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DESCRIPTION

23       These functions shall retrieve information about hosts.  This  informa‐
24       tion  is  considered  to  be  stored in a database that can be accessed
25       sequentially or  randomly.  The  implementation  of  this  database  is
26       unspecified.
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28       Note:  In  many  cases  this database is implemented by the Domain Name
29              System, as documented in RFC 1034, RFC 1035, and RFC 1886.
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32       The sethostent() function shall open a connection to the  database  and
33       set the next entry for retrieval to the first entry in the database. If
34       the stayopen argument is non-zero, the connection shall not  be  closed
35       by a call to gethostent(), gethostbyname(), or gethostbyaddr(), and the
36       implementation may maintain an open file descriptor.
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38       The gethostent() function shall read the next entry  in  the  database,
39       opening and closing a connection to the database as necessary.
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41       Entries  shall  be  returned  in  hostent structures. Refer to gethost‐
42       byaddr() for a definition of the hostent structure.
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44       The endhostent() function shall close the connection to  the  database,
45       releasing any open file descriptor.
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47       These  functions need not be reentrant. A function that is not required
48       to be reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.
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RETURN VALUE

51       Upon successful completion, the gethostent() function  shall  return  a
52       pointer  to a hostent structure if the requested entry was found, and a
53       null pointer if the end of the database was reached  or  the  requested
54       entry was not found.
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ERRORS

57       No errors are defined for endhostent(), gethostent(), and sethostent().
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59       The following sections are informative.
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EXAMPLES

62       None.
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APPLICATION USAGE

65       The gethostent() function may return pointers to static data, which may
66       be overwritten by subsequent calls to any of these functions.
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RATIONALE

69       None.
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FUTURE DIRECTIONS

72       None.
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SEE ALSO

75       endservent(),  gethostbyaddr(),  the   Base   Definitions   volume   of
76       IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <netdb.h>
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79       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
80       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
81       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
82       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by  the  Institute  of
83       Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
84       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
85       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
86       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
87       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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91IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                       ENDHOSTENT(3P)
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