Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!ncar!tank!gargoyle!chinet!john
From: john@chinet.chi.il.us (John Mundt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl
Subject: Re: Would like to emulate an array of pointers to a structure
Message-ID: <1990Mar28.154934.6689@chinet.chi.il.us>
Date: 28 Mar 90 15:49:34 GMT
References: <12170003@hpccc.HP.COM>
Reply-To: john@chinet.chi.il.us (John Mundt)
Organization: Chinet - Chicago Public Access UNIX
Lines: 27

In article <12170003@hpccc.HP.COM> okamoto@hpccc.HP.COM (Jeff Okamoto) writes:
> ...
>I'm trying to do some manipulations on the password file.  What I'd like
>to be able to do is to somehow be able to reference one entire line of
>it with a single index value.  I know I can do this with an array of
>entire password file lines, but I don't want to keep having to split
>each line while searching for a particular entry (e.g., login name).
>
>The C equivalent would be an array of pointers to a structure.  Is
>there an easy (and intuitive!) method for doing what I'm trying to do?
>

Try using getpwent() and its associated functions, which allow you to 
do just what you are talking about, and which store things in a struct
which has split the different fields out into structure members.

It does it one at a time, but you could create an array of this struct
and fill it from the password file once and play with each line at your
leisure.  Alternatively, there is a reset function to these functions
setpwent() which rewinds the file and starts again.  Don't forget to
call endpwent() when you are all done.

-- 
---------------------
John Mundt   Teachers' Aide, Inc.  P.O. Box 1666  Highland Park, IL
john@admctr.chi.il.us *OR* fred@teacha.chi.il.us
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