Accesses the basic group information in the user database.
#include <sys/types.h> #include <grp.h>
struct group *getgrent ( );
struct group *getgrgid (GID)
gid_t GID;
struct group *getgrnam (Name)
const char * Name;
void setgrent ( );
void endgrent ( );
Attention: The information returned by the getgrent, getgrnam, and getgrgid subroutines is stored in a static area and is overwritten on subsequent calls. You must copy this information to save it.
Attention: These subroutines should not be used with the getgroupattr subroutine. The results are unpredictable.
The setgrent subroutine opens the user database if it is not already open. Then, this subroutine sets the cursor to point to the first group entry in the database.
The getgrent, getgrnam, and getgrgid subroutines return information about the requested group. The getgrent subroutine returns the next group in the sequential search. The getgrnam subroutine returns the first group in the database whose name matches that of the Name parameter. The getgrgid subroutine returns the first group in the database whose group ID matches the GID parameter. The endgrent subroutine closes the user database.
Note: An ! (exclamation mark) is written into the gr_passwd field. This field is ignored and is present only for compatibility with older versions of UNIX.
The group structure is
defined in the grp.h file and has the following
fields:
If the Network Information Service (NIS) is enabled on the system, these subroutines attempt to retrieve the group information from the NIS authentication server.
| GID | Specifies the group ID. |
| Name | Specifies the group name. |
| Group | Specifies the basic group information to enter into the user database. |
If successful, the getgrent, getgrnam, and getgrgid subroutines return a pointer to a valid group structure. Otherwise, a null pointer is returned.
These subroutines fail if one or
more of the following are returned:
To check an application for error situations, set the errno global variable to a value of 0 before calling the getgrgid subroutine. If the errno global variable is set on return, an error occurred.
These subroutines are part of Base Operating System (BOS) Runtime.
| /etc/group | Contains basic group attributes. |
List of Security and Auditing Subroutines, Subroutines Overview in AIX 5L Version 5.1 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs.