NAME

       FBB::GetHostent - Obtain hostent struct from hostname or -address

SYNOPSIS

       #include <bobcat/gethostent>
       Linking option: -lbobcat

DESCRIPTION

       FBB::GetHostent  objects  produce  hostent  structs  which  may  be  used  by other types of objects. The
       FBB::GetHostent class is therefore primarily used as a base-class for other classes and is seldomly  used
       `stand-alone’.  The  hostent  structs  are static structs, but a non-static copy may be obtained using an
       FBB::Hostent object.

       A hostent struct is defined as follows:

           struct hostent
           {
               char    *h_name;        // official name of host
               char    **h_aliases;    // alias list
               int     h_addrtype;     // host address type (always AF_INET)
               int     h_length;       // length of address
               char    **h_addr_list;  // list of addresses
           }

       The address fields are binary values of the addresses, each address requiring h_length  bytes,  the  last
       address  being  equal  to  0.  These  binary  values may be converted to character-representations by the
       addressToString() member, which uses inet_ntop(), internally.

NAMESPACE

       FBB
       All constructors, members, operators and manipulators, mentioned in this man-page,  are  defined  in  the
       namespace FBB.

INHERITS FROM

       -

CONSTRUCTORS

       All  members  of  the  class  FBB::GetHostent  are  static. Consequently, there is no need to construct a
       FBB::GetHostent object. However, the default- and copy-constructors are available.

STATIC MEMBERS

       o      hostent const *gethostent(char const *errorprefix, std::string const &nameOrAddress):
              The gethostent() member returns a pointer to a static struct hostent. It contains the  information
              about the host whose name or dotted decimal address was provided as its second argument. Its first
              argument is an error string prefix, prefixing the error message in an FBB::Exception object.  Such
              an object is thrown as an exception when the host’s information could not be retrieved.

       o      std::string addressToString(char const *errorprefix, void const *ads):
              This  member  returns  the  dotted decimal address of the host whose binary address is provided at
              ads.  Its  first  argument  is  an  error  string  prefix,  prefixing  the  error  message  in  an
              FBB::Exception  object.  Such  an object is thrown as an exception when the dotted decimal address
              could not be determined.

              The class’ members can only be used when the host  whose  name  or  address  is  searched  can  be
              resolved by a name resolution process, e.g., bind(1).

EXAMPLE

           #include <iostream>
           #include <algorithm>
           #include <iterator>

           #include <bobcat/hostent>
           #include <bobcat/gethostent>

           using namespace std;
           using namespace FBB;

           int main(int argc, char **argv)
           {
               if (argc == 1)
               {
                   cerr << "Provide a host name or host address to solve\n";
                   return 1;
               }

               try
               {
                   Hostent he(GetHostent::gethostent(argv[1], argv[1]));
                   cout << "Hostname: " << he.hostname() << endl;

                   cout << "Aliases:\n";
                   copy(he.beginAlias(), he.endAlias(),
                           ostream_iterator<char const *>(cout, "\n"));

                   cout << "Addresses:\n";
                   for (size_t idx = 0; idx < he.nAddresses(); idx++)
                       cout << he.dottedDecimalAddress(idx) << endl;
               }
               catch (Exception const &err)
               {
                   cout << err.what() << endl;
                   return 1;
               }
               return 0;
           }

FILES

       bobcat/gethostent - defines the class interface

SEE ALSO

       bind(1),    bobcat(7),   gethostbyaddr(3)   gethostbyname(3),   hostent(3bobcat),   inetaddress(3bobcat),
       inet_ntop(3)

BUGS

       None Reported.

DISTRIBUTION FILES

       o      bobcat_3.19.01-x.dsc: detached signature;

       o      bobcat_3.19.01-x.tar.gz: source archive;

       o      bobcat_3.19.01-x_i386.changes: change log;

       o      libbobcat1_3.19.01-x_*.deb: debian package holding the libraries;

       o      libbobcat1-dev_3.19.01-x_*.deb: debian package holding the libraries, headers and manual pages;

       o      http://sourceforge.net/projects/bobcat: public archive location;

BOBCAT

       Bobcat is an acronym of `Brokken’s Own Base Classes And Templates’.

COPYRIGHT

       This is free software, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

AUTHOR

       Frank B. Brokken (f.b.brokken@rug.nl).