xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/net/if_indextoname.3 (revision 6137b5f7b8c183ee8806d79b3f1d8e5e3ddb3df3)
1.\"	$KAME: if_indextoname.3,v 1.10 2000/11/24 08:13:51 itojun Exp $
2.\"	BSDI	Id: if_indextoname.3,v 2.2 2000/04/17 22:38:05 dab Exp
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25.Dd November 23, 2005
26.Dt IF_NAMETOINDEX 3
27.Os
28.Sh NAME
29.Nm if_nametoindex ,
30.Nm if_indextoname ,
31.Nm if_nameindex ,
32.Nm if_freenameindex
33.Nd provide mappings between interface names and indexes
34.Sh SYNOPSIS
35.In sys/types.h
36.In sys/socket.h
37.In net/if.h
38.Ft "unsigned int"
39.Fn if_nametoindex "const char *ifname"
40.Ft "char *"
41.Fn if_indextoname "unsigned int ifindex" "char *ifname"
42.Ft "struct if_nameindex *"
43.Fn if_nameindex "void"
44.Ft void
45.Fn if_freenameindex "struct if_nameindex *ptr"
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The
48.Fn if_nametoindex
49function maps the interface name specified in
50.Fa ifname
51to its corresponding index.
52If the specified interface does not exist, it returns 0.
53.Pp
54The
55.Fn if_indextoname
56function maps the interface index specified in
57.Fa ifindex
58to it corresponding name, which is copied into the
59buffer pointed to by
60.Fa ifname ,
61which must be of at least
62.Dv IFNAMSIZ
63bytes.
64This pointer is also the return value of the function.
65If there is no interface corresponding to the specified
66index,
67.Dv NULL
68is returned.
69.Pp
70The
71.Fn if_nameindex
72function returns an array of
73.Vt if_nameindex
74structures, one structure per interface, as
75defined in the include file
76.In net/if.h .
77The
78.Vt if_nameindex
79structure contains at least the following entries:
80.Bd -literal
81    unsigned int   if_index;  /* 1, 2, ... */
82    char          *if_name;   /* null terminated name: "le0", ... */
83.Ed
84.Pp
85The end of the array of structures is indicated by a structure with an
86.Va if_index
87of 0 and an
88.Va if_name
89of
90.Dv NULL .
91A
92.Dv NULL
93pointer is returned upon an error.
94.Pp
95The
96.Fn if_freenameindex
97function frees the dynamic memory that was
98allocated by
99.Fn if_nameindex .
100.Sh RETURN VALUES
101Upon successful completion,
102.Fn if_nametoindex
103returns the index number of the interface.
104If the interface is not found, a value of 0 is returned and
105.Va errno
106is set to
107.Er ENXIO .
108A value of 0 is also returned if an error
109occurs while retrieving the list of interfaces via
110.Xr getifaddrs 3 .
111.Pp
112Upon successful completion,
113.Fn if_indextoname
114returns
115.Fa ifname .
116If the interface is not found, a
117.Dv NULL
118pointer is returned and
119.Va errno
120is set to
121.Er ENXIO .
122A
123.Dv NULL
124pointer is also returned if an error
125occurs while retrieving the list of interfaces via
126.Xr getifaddrs 3 .
127.Pp
128The
129.Fn if_nameindex
130returns a
131.Dv NULL
132pointer if an error
133occurs while retrieving the list of interfaces via
134.Xr getifaddrs 3 ,
135or if sufficient memory cannot be allocated.
136.Sh SEE ALSO
137.Xr getifaddrs 3 ,
138.Xr networking 4
139.Sh STANDARDS
140The
141.Fn if_nametoindex ,
142.Fn if_indextoname ,
143.Fn if_nameindex ,
144and
145.Fn if_freenameindex
146functions conform to
147.%T "RFC 2553" .
148.Sh HISTORY
149The implementation first appeared in BSDi
150.Bsx .
151