GETPW

Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (3)
Updated: 1996-05-27
Index
Return to Main Contents

NAME

getpw - Re-construct password line entry

SYNOPSIS

#include <pwd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>

int getpw(uid_t uid, char *buf);

DESCRIPTION

The getpw() function re-constructs the password line entry for the given user uid uid in the buffer buf. The returned buffer contains a line of format

: name:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:dir:shell

The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:


struct passwd {
        char    *pw_name;       /* user name */
        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 */
};

RETURN VALUE

The getpw() function returns 0 on success, or -1 if an error occurs.

ERRORS

ENOMEM: Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

FILES

/etc/passwd: password database file

CONFORMING TO

SYSVr2.

BUGS

The getpw() function is dangerous as it may overflow the provided buffer buf. It is obsoleted by getpwuid().

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 06:54:49 GMT, April 25, 2024