NAME

       pcap_stats - get capture statistics

SYNOPSIS

       #include <pcap/pcap.h>

       int pcap_stats(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_stat *ps);

DESCRIPTION

       pcap_stats()  fills  in  the  struct  pcap_stat  pointed to by its second argument.  The values represent
       packet statistics from the start of the run to the time of the call.

       pcap_stats() is supported only on live captures, not  on  ``savefiles'';  no  statistics  are  stored  in
       ``savefiles'', so no statistics are available when reading from a ``savefile''.

       A struct pcap_stat has the following members:

              ps_recv
                     number of packets received;

              ps_drop
                     number  of  packets dropped because there was no room in the operating system's buffer when
                     they arrived, because packets weren't being read fast enough;

              ps_ifdrop
                     number of packets dropped by the network interface or its driver.

       The statistics do not behave the same way on all platforms.  ps_recv might  count  packets  whether  they
       passed  any  filter  set  with pcap_setfilter(3PCAP) or not, or it might count only packets that pass the
       filter.  It also might, or might not, count packets dropped because there was no room  in  the  operating
       system's  buffer  when  they arrived.  ps_drop is not available on all platforms; it is zero on platforms
       where it's not available.  If packet filtering is done in libpcap, rather than in the  operating  system,
       it  would  count packets that don't pass the filter.  Both ps_recv and ps_drop might, or might not, count
       packets not yet read from the operating system and thus not  yet  seen  by  the  application.   ps_ifdrop
       might,  or  might  not, be implemented; if it's zero, that might mean that no packets were dropped by the
       interface, or it might mean that the statistic is  unavailable,  so  it  should  not  be  treated  as  an
       indication that the interface did not drop any packets.

RETURN VALUE

       pcap_stats()  returns  0  on  success  and returns -1 if there is an error or if p doesn't support packet
       statistics.  If -1 is returned, pcap_geterr() or pcap_perror() may be called with p  as  an  argument  to
       fetch or display the error text.

SEE ALSO

       pcap(3PCAP), pcap_geterr(3PCAP)

                                                7 September 2009                               PCAP_STATS(3PCAP)