SOCKADDR_SNPRINTF(3) | Library Functions Manual | SOCKADDR_SNPRINTF(3)

# NAME

`sockaddr_snprintf` —
formatting function for socket address structures

# LIBRARY

System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)

# SYNOPSIS

`#include <util.h>`

int
`sockaddr_snprintf`(char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *fmt, const struct sockaddr *sa);

# DESCRIPTION

The `sockaddr_snprintf`() function formats a socket address into a form suitable for printing.

This function is convenient because it is protocol independent, i.e. one does not need to know the address family of the sockaddr in order to print it. The printf(3) like format string specifies how the address is going to be printed. Some formatting characters are only supported by some address families. If a certain formatting character is not supported, then the string “N/A” is printed.

The resulting formatted string is placed into buf. Up to buflen characters are placed in buf.

The following formatting characters are supported (immediately after a percent (‘%’) sign):

a
  The node address portion of the socket address is printed numerically. For `AF_INET` the address is printed as: “A.B.C.D” and for AF_INET6 the address is printed as: “A:B...[%if]” using getnameinfo(3) internally with `NI_NUMERICHOST`. For `AF_APPLETALK` the address is printed as: “A.B” For `AF_LOCAL` (`AF_UNIX`) the address is printed as: “socket-path” For `AF_LINK` the address is printed as: “a.b.c.d.e.f” using link_ntoa(3), but the interface portion is skipped (see below). For `AF_UNSPEC` nothing is printed.
A
  The symbolic name of the address is printed. For `AF_INET` and `AF_INET6` this is the hostname associated with the address. For all other address families, it is the same as the “a” format.
D
  Debugging output: For all addresses, print all their fields as “field_name=value”.
f
  The numeric value of the family of the address is printed.
l
  The length of the socket address is printed.
p
  For `AF_INET`, `AF_INET6`, and `AF_APPLETALK` the numeric value of the port portion of the address is printed.
P
  For `AF_INET` and `AF_INET6` this is the name of the service associated with the port number, if available. For all other address families, it is the same as the “p” format.
I
  For `AF_LINK` addresses, the interface name portion is printed.
F
  For `AF_INET6` addresses, the flowinfo portion of the address is printed numerically.
R
  For `AF_APPLETALK` addresses, the netrange portion of the address is printed as: “phase:[firstnet,lastnet]”
S
  For `AF_INET6` addresses, the scope portion of the address is printed numerically.
?
  If present between “%” and the format character, and the selected format does not apply to the given address family, the “N/A” string is elided and no output results.

# RETURN VALUES

The `sockaddr_snprintf`() function returns the number of characters that are required to format the value val given the format string fmt excluding the terminating NUL. The returned string in buf is always NUL-terminated. If the address family is not supported, `sockaddr_snprintf`() returns -1 and sets errno to `EAFNOSUPPORT`. For `AF_INET` and `AF_INET6` addresses `sockaddr_snprintf`() returns -1 if the getnameinfo(3) conversion failed, and errno is set to the error value from getnameinfo(3).

# ERRORS

If the buffer buf is too small to hold the formatted output, `sockaddr_snprintf`() will still return the buffer, containing a truncated string.

# SEE ALSO

getaddrinfo(3), getnameinfo(3), link_ntoa(3), snprintf(3)

# HISTORY

The `sockaddr_snprintf`() first appeared in NetBSD 3.0.

# BUGS

The `sockaddr_snprintf`() interface is experimental and might change in the future.

There is no way to specify different formatting styles for particular addresses. For example it would be useful to print `AF_LINK` addresses as “%.2x:%.2x...” instead of “%x.%x...”

This function is supposed to be quick, but getnameinfo(3) might use system calls to convert the scope number to an interface name and the “A” and “P” format characters call getaddrinfo(3) which may block for a noticeable period of time.

Not all formatting characters are supported by all address families and printing “N/A” is not very convenient. The “?” character can suppress this, but other formatting (e.g., spacing or punctuation) will remain.

June 7, 2013 | NetBSD 9.3