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.\" @(#)getgrent.3 6.8 (Berkeley) 4/20/91
.Nd group database operations
.Fn getgrnam "const char *name"
.Fn setgroupent "int stayopen"
.\" .Fn setgrfile "const char *name"
These functions operate on the group database file
Each line of the database is defined by the structure
.Bd -literal -offset indent
char *gr_name; /* group name */
char *gr_passwd; /* group password */
gid_t gr_gid; /* group id */
char **gr_mem; /* group members */
search the group database for the given group name pointed to by
or the group id pointed to by
respectively, returning the first one encountered. Identical group
names or group gids may result in undefined behavior.
sequentially reads the group database and is intended for programs
that wish to step through the complete list of groups.
All three routines will open the group file for reading, if necesssary.
opens the file, or rewinds it if it is already open. If
is non-zero, file descriptors are left open, significantly speeding
functions subsequent calls. This functionality is unnecessary for
as it doesn't close its file descriptors by default. It should also
be noted that it is dangerous for long-running programs to use this
functionality as the group file may be updated.
with an argument of zero.
return a pointer to the group entry if successful; if end-of-file
is reached or an error occurs a null pointer is returned.
return the value 1 if successful, otherwise the value
.Bl -tag -width /etc/group -compact
which allowed the specification of alternate password databases, has
been deprecated and is no longer available.
leave their results in an internal static object and return
a pointer to that object. Subsequent calls to
will modify the same object.
are fairly useless in a networked environment and should be