GETPWENT(T)         Linux Programmer's Manual         GETPWENT(T)



NAME
       getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry

SYNOPSIS
       #include <pwd.h>
       #include <sys/types.h>

       struct passwd *getpwent(t);

       void setpwent(t);

       void endpwent(t);

DESCRIPTION
       The  getpwent()  function returns a pointer to a structure
       containing 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 */
              };

       When  shadow(w) passwords are enabled (which is default on
       many GNU/Linux installations) the content of pw_passwd  is
       usually  not  very  useful.  In such a case most passwords
       are stored in a separate file.

       The variable pw_shell may be empty, in which case the sys-
       tem will execute the default shell (/bin/sh) for the user.

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

ERRORS
       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

FILES
       /etc/passwd
              password database file

CONFORMING TO
       SVID 3, BSD 4.3

SEE ALSO
       fgetpwent(t),  getpwnam(m),  getpwuid(d),  getpw(w), putp-
       went(t), shadow(w), passwd(d)



GNU                         1996-05-27                GETPWENT(T)