GETSERVENT(3)

GETSERVENT(3) | Library Functions Manual | GETSERVENT(3)

# NAME

`getservent`, `getservbyport`, `getservbyname`, `setservent`, `endservent` —
get service entry

# LIBRARY

Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

# SYNOPSIS

`#include <netdb.h>`

struct servent *
`getservent`();

struct servent *
`getservbyname`(const char *name, const char *proto);

struct servent *
`getservbyport`(int port, const char *proto);

void
`setservent`(int stayopen);

void
`endservent`(void);

# DESCRIPTION

The `getservent`(), `getservbyname`(), and `getservbyport`() functions each return a pointer to an object with the following structure containing the broken-out fields of a line in the network services data base, /etc/services.

    struct	servent {
    	char	*s_name;	/* official name of service */
    	char	**s_aliases;	/* alias list */
    	int	s_port;		/* port service resides at */
    	char	*s_proto;	/* protocol to use */
    };

The members of this structure are:

s_name
  The official name of the service.
s_aliases
  A NULL terminated list of alternative names for the service.
s_port
  The port number at which the service resides. Port numbers must be given and are returned in network byte order.
s_proto
  The name of the protocol to use when contacting the service.

The `getservent`() function reads the next line of the file, opening the file if necessary.

The `setservent`() function opens and rewinds the file. If the stayopen flag is non-zero, the net data base will not be closed after each call to `getservbyname`() or `getservbyport`().

The `endservent`() function closes the file.

The `getservbyname`() and `getservbyport`() functions sequentially search from the beginning of the file until a matching protocol name or port number is found, or until `EOF` is encountered. If a protocol name is also supplied (non-`NULL`), searches must also match the protocol.

# FILES

/etc/services
/var/db/services.cdb

# RETURN VALUES

Null pointer is returned on `EOF` or error.

# SEE ALSO

getprotoent(3), services(5), services_mkdb(8)

# HISTORY

The `getservent`(), `getservbyport`(), `getservbyname`(), `setservent`(), and `endservent`() functions appeared in 4.2BSD.

# BUGS

These functions use static data storage; if the data is needed for future use, it should be copied before any subsequent calls overwrite it. Expecting port numbers to fit in a 32 bit quantity is probably naive.

December 03, 2022 | NetBSD 10.1