endservent Subroutine

Purpose

Closes the /etc/services file.

Library

Standard C Library (libc.a)

Syntax

#include <netdb.h>

void endservent ( )

Description

The endservent subroutine closes the /etc/services file. A call made to the getservent subroutine, getservbyname subroutine, or getservbyport subroutine opens the /etc/services file. An application program can use the endservent subroutine to close the /etc/services file.

All applications containing the endservent subroutine must be compiled with the _BSD macro set to a specific value. Acceptable values are 43 and 44. In addition, all socket applications must include the BSD libbsd.a library.

Return Values

If a previous setservent subroutine has been performed and the StayOpen parameter does not equal 0, then the endservent subroutine will not close the /etc/services file. Also, the setservent subroutine does not indicate that it closed the file. A second setservent subroutine has to be issued with the StayOpen parameter equal to 0 in order for a following endservent subroutine to succeed. If this is not done, the /etc/services file closes on an exit subroutine.

Examples

To close the /etc/services file, type:

endservent ();

Files