getpw(3) - f39

1getpw(3)                   Library Functions Manual                   getpw(3)
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NAME

6       getpw - reconstruct password line entry
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LIBRARY

9       Standard C library (libc, -lc)
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SYNOPSIS

12       #define _GNU_SOURCE             /* See feature_test_macros(7) */
13       #include <sys/types.h>
14       #include <pwd.h>
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16       [[deprecated]] int getpw(uid_t uid, char *buf);
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DESCRIPTION

19       The getpw() function reconstructs the password line entry for the given
20       user ID uid in the buffer buf.  The returned buffer contains a line  of
21       format
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23           name:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:dir:shell
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25       The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:
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27           struct passwd {
28               char   *pw_name;       /* username */
29               char   *pw_passwd;     /* user password */
30               uid_t   pw_uid;        /* user ID */
31               gid_t   pw_gid;        /* group ID */
32               char   *pw_gecos;      /* user information */
33               char   *pw_dir;        /* home directory */
34               char   *pw_shell;      /* shell program */
35           };
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37       For more information about the fields of this structure, see passwd(5).
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RETURN VALUE

40       The getpw() function returns 0 on success; on error, it returns -1, and
41       errno is set to indicate the error.
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43       If uid is not found in the password database, getpw() returns -1,  sets
44       errno to 0, and leaves buf unchanged.
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ERRORS

47       0 or ENOENT
48              No user corresponding to uid.
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50       EINVAL buf is NULL.
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52       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.
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FILES

55       /etc/passwd
56              password database file
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ATTRIBUTES

59       For  an  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in  this  section,  see at‐
60       tributes(7).
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62       ┌─────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────┐
63       │Interface                            │ Attribute     │ Value          │
64       ├─────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────┤
65       │getpw()                              │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe locale │
66       └─────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────┘
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STANDARDS

69       None.
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HISTORY

72       SVr2.
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BUGS

75       The getpw() function is dangerous  as  it  may  overflow  the  provided
76       buffer buf.  It is obsoleted by getpwuid(3).
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