inet_net_pton(3) — Linux manual page

NAME | LIBRARY | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | RETURN VALUE | ERRORS | STANDARDS | NOTES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

inet_net_pton(3)        Library Functions Manual        inet_net_pton(3)

NAME         top

       inet_net_pton, inet_net_ntop - Internet network number conversion

LIBRARY         top

       Resolver library (libresolv, -lresolv)

SYNOPSIS         top

       #include <arpa/inet.h>

       int inet_net_pton(int af, const char *pres,
                         void netp[.nsize], size_t nsize);
       char *inet_net_ntop(int af,
                         const void netp[(.bits - CHAR_BIT + 1) / CHAR_BIT],
                         int bits,
                         char pres[.psize], size_t psize);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
   feature_test_macros(7)):

       inet_net_pton(), inet_net_ntop():
           Since glibc 2.20:
               _DEFAULT_SOURCE
           Before glibc 2.20:
               _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION         top

       These functions convert network numbers between presentation
       (i.e., printable) format and network (i.e., binary) format.

       For both functions, af specifies the address family for the
       conversion; the only supported value is AF_INET.

   inet_net_pton()
       The inet_net_pton() function converts pres, a null-terminated
       string containing an Internet network number in presentation
       format to network format.  The result of the conversion, which is
       in network byte order, is placed in the buffer pointed to by
       netp.  (The netp argument typically points to an in_addr
       structure.)  The nsize argument specifies the number of bytes
       available in netp.

       On success, inet_net_pton() returns the number of bits in the
       network number field of the result placed in netp.  For a
       discussion of the input presentation format and the return value,
       see NOTES.

       Note: the buffer pointed to by netp should be zeroed out before
       calling inet_net_pton(), since the call writes only as many bytes
       as are required for the network number (or as are explicitly
       specified by pres), which may be less than the number of bytes in
       a complete network address.

   inet_net_ntop()
       The inet_net_ntop() function converts the network number in the
       buffer pointed to by netp to presentation format; *netp is
       interpreted as a value in network byte order.  The bits argument
       specifies the number of bits in the network number in *netp.

       The null-terminated presentation-format string is placed in the
       buffer pointed to by pres.  The psize argument specifies the
       number of bytes available in pres.  The presentation string is in
       CIDR format: a dotted-decimal number representing the network
       address, followed by a slash, and the size of the network number
       in bits.

RETURN VALUE         top

       On success, inet_net_pton() returns the number of bits in the
       network number.  On error, it returns -1, and errno is set to
       indicate the error.

       On success, inet_net_ntop() returns pres.  On error, it returns
       NULL, and errno is set to indicate the error.

ERRORS         top

       EAFNOSUPPORT
              af specified a value other than AF_INET.

       EMSGSIZE
              The size of the output buffer was insufficient.

       ENOENT (inet_net_pton()) pres was not in correct presentation
              format.

STANDARDS         top

       None.

NOTES         top

   Input presentation format for inet_net_pton()
       The network number may be specified either as a hexadecimal value
       or in dotted-decimal notation.

       Hexadecimal values are indicated by an initial "0x" or "0X".  The
       hexadecimal digits populate the nibbles (half octets) of the
       network number from left to right in network byte order.

       In dotted-decimal notation, up to four octets are specified, as
       decimal numbers separated by dots.  Thus, any of the following
       forms are accepted:

           a.b.c.d
           a.b.c
           a.b
           a

       Each part is a number in the range 0 to 255 that populates one
       byte of the resulting network number, going from left to right,
       in network-byte (big endian) order.  Where a part is omitted, the
       resulting byte in the network number is zero.

       For either hexadecimal or dotted-decimal format, the network
       number can optionally be followed by a slash and a number in the
       range 0 to 32, which specifies the size of the network number in
       bits.

   Return value of inet_net_pton()
       The return value of inet_net_pton() is the number of bits in the
       network number field.  If the input presentation string
       terminates with a slash and an explicit size value, then that
       size becomes the return value of inet_net_pton().  Otherwise, the
       return value, bits, is inferred as follows:

       •  If the most significant byte of the network number is greater
          than or equal to 240, then bits is 32.

       •  Otherwise, if the most significant byte of the network number
          is greater than or equal to 224, then bits is 4.

       •  Otherwise, if the most significant byte of the network number
          is greater than or equal to 192, then bits is 24.

       •  Otherwise, if the most significant byte of the network number
          is greater than or equal to 128, then bits is 16.

       •  Otherwise, bits is 8.

       If the resulting bits value from the above steps is greater than
       or equal to 8, but the number of octets specified in the network
       number exceed bits/8, then bits is set to 8 times the number of
       octets actually specified.

EXAMPLES         top

       The program below demonstrates the use of inet_net_pton() and
       inet_net_ntop().  It uses inet_net_pton() to convert the
       presentation format network address provided in its first
       command-line argument to binary form, displays the return value
       from inet_net_pton().  It then uses inet_net_ntop() to convert
       the binary form back to presentation format, and displays the
       resulting string.

       In order to demonstrate that inet_net_pton() may not write to all
       bytes of its netp argument, the program allows an optional second
       command-line argument, a number used to initialize the buffer
       before inet_net_pton() is called.  As its final line of output,
       the program displays all of the bytes of the buffer returned by
       inet_net_pton() allowing the user to see which bytes have not
       been touched by inet_net_pton().

       An example run, showing that inet_net_pton() infers the number of
       bits in the network number:

           $ ./a.out 193.168
           inet_net_pton() returned: 24
           inet_net_ntop() yielded:  193.168.0/24
           Raw address:              c1a80000

       Demonstrate that inet_net_pton() does not zero out unused bytes
       in its result buffer:

           $ ./a.out 193.168 0xffffffff
           inet_net_pton() returned: 24
           inet_net_ntop() yielded:  193.168.0/24
           Raw address:              c1a800ff

       Demonstrate that inet_net_pton() will widen the inferred size of
       the network number, if the supplied number of bytes in the
       presentation string exceeds the inferred value:

           $ ./a.out 193.168.1.128
           inet_net_pton() returned: 32
           inet_net_ntop() yielded:  193.168.1.128/32
           Raw address:              c1a80180

       Explicitly specifying the size of the network number overrides
       any inference about its size (but any extra bytes that are
       explicitly specified will still be used by inet_net_pton(): to
       populate the result buffer):

           $ ./a.out 193.168.1.128/24
           inet_net_pton() returned: 24
           inet_net_ntop() yielded:  193.168.1/24
           Raw address:              c1a80180

   Program source
       /* Link with "-lresolv" */

       #include <arpa/inet.h>
       #include <stdio.h>
       #include <stdlib.h>

       #define errExit(msg)    do { perror(msg); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); \
                               } while (0)

       int
       main(int argc, char *argv[])
       {
           char buf[100];
           struct in_addr addr;
           int bits;

           if (argc < 2) {
               fprintf(stderr,
                       "Usage: %s presentation-form [addr-init-value]\n",
                       argv[0]);
               exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
           }

           /* If argv[2] is supplied (a numeric value), use it to initialize
              the output buffer given to inet_net_pton(), so that we can see
              that inet_net_pton() initializes only those bytes needed for
              the network number. If argv[2] is not supplied, then initialize
              the buffer to zero (as is recommended practice). */

           addr.s_addr = (argc > 2) ? strtod(argv[2], NULL) : 0;

           /* Convert presentation network number in argv[1] to binary. */

           bits = inet_net_pton(AF_INET, argv[1], &addr, sizeof(addr));
           if (bits == -1)
               errExit("inet_net_ntop");

           printf("inet_net_pton() returned: %d\n", bits);

           /* Convert binary format back to presentation, using 'bits'
              returned by inet_net_pton(). */

           if (inet_net_ntop(AF_INET, &addr, bits, buf, sizeof(buf)) == NULL)
               errExit("inet_net_ntop");

           printf("inet_net_ntop() yielded:  %s\n", buf);

           /* Display 'addr' in raw form (in network byte order), so we can
              see bytes not displayed by inet_net_ntop(); some of those bytes
              may not have been touched by inet_net_ntop(), and so will still
              have any initial value that was specified in argv[2]. */

           printf("Raw address:              %x\n", htonl(addr.s_addr));

           exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
       }

SEE ALSO         top

       inet(3), networks(5)

COLOPHON         top

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Linux man-pages 6.9.1          2024-06-15               inet_net_pton(3)

Pages that refer to this page: inet(3)