getprotoent()

Updated: April 19, 2023

Read the next line of the protocol name database file

Synopsis:

#include <netdb.h>

struct protoent * getprotoent( void );

Library:

libsocket

Use the -l socket option to qcc to link against this library.

Description:

The getprotoent() function reads the next line of the protocol name database file, opening the file if necessary. It returns a pointer to a structure of type protoent, which contains the broken-out fields of a line in the network protocol database, /etc/protocols.

Returns:

A pointer to a valid protoent structure, or NULL if an error occurs or the end of the file (EOF) is reached.

Files:

/etc/protocols
Protocol name database file.

Classification:

POSIX 1003.1

Safety:  
Cancellation point Yes
Interrupt handler No
Signal handler No
Thread No

Caveats:

This function uses static data; if you need the data for future use, copy it before any subsequent calls overwrite it.

Currently, only the Internet protocols are understood.