NAME

       endhostent, gethostent, sethostent - network host database functions

SYNOPSIS

       #include <netdb.h>

       void endhostent(void);
       struct hostent *gethostent(void);
       void sethostent(int stayopen);

DESCRIPTION

       These  functions shall retrieve information about hosts. This information is considered to be stored in a
       database that can  be  accessed  sequentially  or  randomly.  The  implementation  of  this  database  is
       unspecified.

       Note:  In  many  cases this database is implemented by the Domain Name System, as documented in RFC 1034,
              RFC 1035, and RFC 1886.

       The sethostent() function shall open a connection to the database and set the next entry for retrieval to
       the first entry in the database. If the stayopen argument is non-zero, the connection shall not be closed
       by a call to gethostent(), gethostbyname(), or gethostbyaddr(), and the implementation  may  maintain  an
       open file descriptor.

       The  gethostent() function shall read the next entry in the database, opening and closing a connection to
       the database as necessary.

       Entries shall be returned in hostent structures. Refer to gethostbyaddr() for a definition of the hostent
       structure.

       The endhostent() function shall close the connection to the database, releasing any open file descriptor.

       These functions need not be reentrant. A function that is not required to be reentrant is not required to
       be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

       Upon successful completion, the gethostent() function shall return a pointer to a  hostent  structure  if
       the requested entry was found, and a null pointer if the end of the database was reached or the requested
       entry was not found.

ERRORS

       No errors are defined for endhostent(), gethostent(), and sethostent().

       The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

       None.

APPLICATION USAGE

       The  gethostent()  function  may  return  pointers to static data, which may be overwritten by subsequent
       calls to any of these functions.

RATIONALE

       None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       endservent() , gethostbyaddr() , the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, <netdb.h>

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition,
       Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open  Group  Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
       Inc  and  The  Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group  Standard  is  the  referee  document.  The
       original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE/The Open Group                                   2003                                         ENDHOSTENT(P)