getutent man page on Ultrix

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getutent(3)							   getutent(3)

Name
       getutent, getutid, getutline, pututline, setutent, endutent, utmpname -
       access file entries

Syntax
       #include <utmp.h>

       struct utmp *getutent(void);

       struct utmp *getutid(
	    struct utmp *ID);

       struct utmp *getutline(
	    struct utmp *line);

       struct utmp *pututline(
	    struct utmp *utmp_ptr);

       void setutent(void);

       void endutent(void);

       void utmpname(
	    char *file);

Arguments
       ID	   The	ID  argument  specifies	 one  of  the  utmp  structure
		   entries.

       line	   The line argument matches one of the utmp line entries when
		   accounting for something other than a process.

       utmp_ptr	   The utmp_ptr argument points to  a  utmp  structure	to  be
		   placed into the utmp file.

       utmp_data   The utmp_data argument is data for the utmp database.

Description
       The  routine reads the next entry from a file similar to the utmp file.
       If the file is not already open, the routine opens  it.	 If  the  file
       does  not exist, the routine tries to create a file.  The routine fails
       and returns a null pointer if the end of the file is reached, the  file
       creation	 fails,	 or the read or write file permissions are inappropri‐
       ate.

       The and routines read forward from the current point in the file	 until
       they  find  an  entry that matches the ID or the line argument, respec‐
       tively.

       The routine writes the supplied utmp_ptr parameter structure  into  the
       utmp  file.   If you have not searched for the proper place in the file
       using one of the either the or the routines, the routine calls the rou‐
       tine  to	 search forward for the proper place.  However, it is expected
       behavior that the user of the routine has searched for the proper entry
       by  using  either  the  or  the	routine.   If so, the routine does not
       search.	If the routine does not find a matching slot for the entry, it
       adds  a	new entry to the end of the file.  Note that the routine waits
       for a short time before it decides that the current process holding the
       lock is dead and proceeds to write to the file.

       The  routine  resets the input stream to the beginning of the file. You
       should do this before each search for a new entry if you want to	 exam‐
       ine the entire file.

       The routine closes the currently open file.

       The  routine  changes  the  name of the file to be examined from to any
       other filename.	The  name  specified  is  usually  (For	 example,  for
       accounting  purposes,  you  can use the routine to change the name.) If
       the specified file does not exist, no indication	 is  given  until  the
       file  is referenced. The routine does not open the file, but closes the
       old file (if it is currently open) and saves the new filename.

       These functions use buffered standard I/O for input,  but  the  routine
       uses  an	 unbuffered nonstandard write to avoid race conditions between
       processes trying to modify the utmp and wtmp files.

Notes
       Before accessing the utmp file for the first time, the ut_fd  field  of
       the utmp_data structure must be set to a value of -1.

Return Values
       Upon  successful	 completion,  the  and routines return pointers to the
       utmp structure.	If a read or write fails due to the end of  the	 file,
       or  due	to  a  permission conflict, the and routines fail and return a
       null pointer.  The routine can also fail if the ID is invalid.

       The routine returns void.  If it is given a file argument that  exceeds
       the  maximum  path  length, the routine returns and does not change the
       file name.

Diagnostics
       [EINVAL]	   Either  the	utmp,  ID,  line,  or  utmp_data  argument  is
		   invalid.

       [ESRCH]	   The search failed.

Files
       Accounting header file that defines the format for the login database
	    file.

       The active login/logoff database files.

See Also
       open(2), utmp(4), wtmp(4)

								   getutent(3)
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