xref: /original-bsd/lib/libc/net/inet.3 (revision a1c2194a)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1983, 1990, 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
5.\"
6.\"     @(#)inet.3	6.10 (Berkeley) 04/19/91
7.\"
8.Dd
9.Dt INET 3
10.Os BSD 4.2
11.Sh NAME
12.Nm inet_aton ,
13.Nm inet_addr ,
14.Nm inet_network ,
15.Nm inet_ntoa ,
16.Nm inet_makeaddr ,
17.Nm inet_lnaof ,
18.Nm inet_netof
19.Nd Internet address manipulation routines
20.Sh SYNOPSIS
21.Fd #include <sys/socket.h>
22.Fd #include <netinet/in.h>
23.Fd #include <arpa/inet.h>
24.Ft int
25.Fn inet_aton "char *cp" "struct in_addr *pin"
26.Ft unsigned long
27.Fn inet_addr "char *cp"
28.Ft unsigned long
29.Fn inet_network "char *cp"
30.Ft char *
31.Fn inet_ntoa "struct in_addr in"
32.Ft struct in_addr
33.Fn inet_makeaddr "int net" "int lna"
34.Ft unsigned long
35.Fn inet_lnaof "struct in_addr in"
36.Ft unsigned long
37.Fn inet_netof "struct in_addr in"
38.Sh DESCRIPTION
39The routines
40.Fn inet_aton ,
41.Fn inet_addr
42and
43.Fn inet_network
44interpret character strings representing
45numbers expressed in the Internet standard
46.Ql \&.
47notation.
48The
49.Fn inet_aton
50routine interprets the specified character string as an Internet address,
51placing the address into the structure provided.
52It returns 1 if the string was successfully interpreted,
53or 0 if the string is invalid.
54The
55.Fn inet_addr
56and
57.Fn inet_network
58functions return numbers suitable for use
59as Internet addresses and Internet network
60numbers, respectively.
61The routine
62.Fn inet_ntoa
63takes an Internet address and returns an
64.Tn ASCII
65string representing the address in
66.Ql \&.
67notation.  The routine
68.Fn inet_makeaddr
69takes an Internet network number and a local
70network address and constructs an Internet address
71from it.  The routines
72.Fn inet_netof
73and
74.Fn inet_lnaof
75break apart Internet host addresses, returning
76the network number and local network address part,
77respectively.
78.Pp
79All Internet addresses are returned in network
80order (bytes ordered from left to right).
81All network numbers and local address parts are
82returned as machine format integer values.
83.Sh INTERNET ADDRESSES
84Values specified using the
85.Ql \&.
86notation take one
87of the following forms:
88.Bd -literal -offset indent
89a.b.c.d
90a.b.c
91a.b
92a
93.Ed
94.Pp
95When four parts are specified, each is interpreted
96as a byte of data and assigned, from left to right,
97to the four bytes of an Internet address.  Note
98that when an Internet address is viewed as a 32-bit
99integer quantity on the
100.Tn VAX
101the bytes referred to
102above appear as
103.Dq Li d.c.b.a .
104That is,
105.Tn VAX
106bytes are
107ordered from right to left.
108.Pp
109When a three part address is specified, the last
110part is interpreted as a 16-bit quantity and placed
111in the right-most two bytes of the network address.
112This makes the three part address format convenient
113for specifying Class B network addresses as
114.Dq Li 128.net.host .
115.Pp
116When a two part address is supplied, the last part
117is interpreted as a 24-bit quantity and placed in
118the right most three bytes of the network address.
119This makes the two part address format convenient
120for specifying Class A network addresses as
121.Dq Li net.host .
122.Pp
123When only one part is given, the value is stored
124directly in the network address without any byte
125rearrangement.
126.Pp
127All numbers supplied as
128.Dq parts
129in a
130.Ql  \&.
131notation
132may be decimal, octal, or hexadecimal, as specified
133in the C language (i.e., a leading 0x or 0X implies
134hexadecimal; otherwise, a leading 0 implies octal;
135otherwise, the number is interpreted as decimal).
136.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
137The constant
138.Dv INADDR_NONE
139is returned by
140.Fn inet_addr
141and
142.Fn inet_network
143for malformed requests.
144.Sh SEE ALSO
145.Xr gethostbyname 3 ,
146.Xr getnetent 3 ,
147.Xr hosts 5 ,
148.Xr networks 5 ,
149.Sh HISTORY
150These
151functions appeared in
152.Bx 4.2 .
153.Sh BUGS
154The value
155.Dv INADDR_NONE
156(0xffffffff) is a valid broadcast address, but
157.Fn inet_addr
158cannot return that value without indicating failure.
159The newer
160.Fn inet_aton
161function does not share this problem.
162The problem of host byte ordering versus network byte ordering is
163confusing.
164The string returned by
165.Fn inet_ntoa
166resides in a static memory area.
167.Pp
168Inet_addr should return a
169.Fa struct in_addr .
170