getprotobynumber()

get a protocol entry, given a number

Synopsis:

#include <netdb.h>

struct protoent *getprotobynumber( int proto );

Description:

The getprotobynumber() function gets the protocol entry for the given number. It returns a pointer to structure of type protoent, which contains the broken-out fields of a line in the network protocol database, /etc/protocols.

The getprotobyname() and getprotobynumber() functions sequentially search from the beginning of the file until a matching protocol name or protocol number is found, or until EOF is encountered.

Returns:

A pointer to a valid protoent structure, or NULL if an error occurs.

Files:

/etc/protocols
Protocol name database file.

Classification:

POSIX 1003.1g (draft)

Safety:
Interrupt handler No
Signal handler No
Thread No

Caveats:

This function uses static data; if the data is needed for future use, it should be copied before any subsequent calls overwrite it.

Currently, only the Internet protocols are understood.

See also:

endprotoent(), getprotobyname(), getprotoent(), protoent, setprotoent()

/etc/protocols in the TCP/IP User's Guide