xref: /freebsd/lib/libc/net/if_indextoname.3 (revision daf1cffce2e07931f27c6c6998652e90df6ba87e)
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35.Dd May 21, 1998
36.Dt IF_NAMETOINDEX 3
37.Os KAME
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm if_nametoindex ,
40.Nm if_indextoname ,
41.Nm if_nameindex ,
42.Nm if_freenameindex
43.Nd convert interface index to name, and vice versa
44.Sh SYNOPSIS
45.Fd #include <sys/types.h>
46.Fd #include <sys/socket.h>
47.Fd #include <net/if.h>
48.Ft "unsigned int"
49.Fn if_nametoindex "const char *ifname"
50.Ft "char *"
51.Fn if_indextoname "unsigned int ifindex" "char *ifname"
52.Ft "struct if_nameindex *"
53.Fn if_nameindex "void"
54.Ft "void"
55.Fn if_freenameindex "struct if_nameindex *ptr"
56.Sh DESCRIPTION
57The functions map interface index to readable interface name
58.Po
59such as
60.Li ``lo0''
61.Pc
62, and vice versa.
63.Pp
64.Fn if_nametoindex
65converts readable interface name to interface index
66.Pp positive integer value .
67If the specified interface does not exist, 0 will be returned.
68.Pp
69.Fn if_indextoname
70converts interface index to readable interface name.
71The
72.Fa ifname
73argument must point to a buffer of at least
74.Dv IF_NAMESIZE
75bytes into which the interface name corresponding to the specified index is
76returned.
77.Po
78.Dv IF_NAMESIZE
79is also defined in
80.Li <net/if.h>
81and its value includes a terminating null byte at the end of the
82interface name.
83.Pc
84This pointer is also the return value of the function.
85If there is no interface corresponding to the specified index,
86.Dv NULL
87is returned.
88.Pp
89.Fn if_nameindex
90returns an array of
91.Fa if_nameindex
92structures.
93.Fa if_nametoindex
94is also defined in
95.Li <net/if.h> ,
96and is as follows:
97.Bd -literal -offset
98struct if_nameindex {
99    unsigned int   if_index;  /* 1, 2, ... */
100    char          *if_name;   /* null terminated name: "le0", ... */
101};
102.Ed
103.Pp
104The end of the array of structures is indicated by a structure with
105an
106.Fa if_index
107of 0 and an
108.Fa if_name
109of
110.Dv NULL .
111The function returns a
112.Dv NULL
113pointer upon an error.
114The memory used for this array of structures along with the interface
115names pointed to by the
116.Fa if_name
117members is obtained dynamically.
118This memory is freed by the
119.Fn if_freenameindex
120function.
121.Pp
122.Fn if_freenameindex
123takes a pointer that was returned by
124.Fn if_nameindex
125as argument
126.Pq Fa ptr ,
127and it reclaims the region allocated.
128.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
129.Fn if_nametoindex
130returns 0 on error, positive integer on success.
131.Fn if_indextoname
132and
133.Fn if_nameindex
134return
135.Dv NULL
136on errors.
137.Sh SEE ALSO
138R. Gilligan, S.  Thomson, J. Bound, and W. Stevens,
139``Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6,'' RFC2553, March 1999.
140.Sh HISTORY
141The implementation first appeared in WIDE Hydrangea IPv6 protocol stack kit.
142.Sh STANDARDS
143These functions are defined in ``Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6''
144.Pq RFC2533 .
145