GETPWENT(3)		   Linux Programmers Manual		  GETPWENT(3)



NAME
       getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry

SYNOPSIS
       #include 
       #include 

       struct passwd *getpwent(void);

       void setpwent(void);

       void endpwent(void);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       getpwent(), setpwent(), endpwent(): _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE ||
       _XOPEN_SOURCE > = 500

DESCRIPTION
       The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a structure containing the
       broken-out  fields  of  a  record from the password database (e.g., the
       local password file /etc/passwd, NIS, and LDAP).  The first time it  is
       called  it  returns  the first entry; thereafter, it returns successive
       entries.

       The setpwent() function	rewinds  to  the  beginning  of  the  password
       database.

       The  endpwent()	function  is used to close the password database after
       all processing has been performed.

       The passwd structure is defined in  as follows:

	   struct passwd {
	       char   *pw_name;       /* username */
	       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(5)	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 system will  exe
       cute the default shell (/bin/sh) for the user.

RETURN VALUE
       The  getpwent()	function  returns  a pointer to a passwd structure, or
       NULL if there are no more entries or an error  occured.	 If  an  error
       occurs,	errno is set appropriately.  If one wants to check errno after
       the call, it should be set to zero before the call.

ERRORS
       EINTR  A signal was caught.

       EIO    I/O error.

       EMFILE The maximum number (OPEN_MAX) of files was open already  in  the
	      calling process.

       ENFILE The maximum number of files was open already in the system.

       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

       ERANGE Insufficient buffer space supplied.

FILES
       /etc/passwd
	      local password database file

CONFORMING TO
       SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.

SEE ALSO
       fgetpwent(3),  getpw(3), getpwent_r(3), getpwnam(3), getpwuid(3), putp
       went(3), shadow(5), passwd(5)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 3.05 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
       description  of	the project, and information about reporting bugs, can
       be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



GNU				  2007-07-26			   GETPWENT(3)