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From: robert@cheviot.uucp (Robert Stroud)
Newsgroups: net.bugs.4bsd
Subject: inet(3n), <arpa/inet.h>, inet_addr()
Message-ID: <457@cheviot.uucp>
Date: Mon, 14-Oct-85 08:41:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: cheviot.457
Posted: Mon Oct 14 08:41:41 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Oct-85 00:46:53 EDT
Reply-To: robert@cheviot.UUCP (Robert Stroud)
Organization: U. of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
Lines: 47

Description:
	Programs that follow the manual page inet(3n) will crash.
	They won't even compile if you take the page literally!

Repeat-by:
	Run this program on an IP address in your /etc/hosts file

		# include <sys/types.h>		/* NOT <sys/socket.h> !! */
		# include <netinet/in.h>
		# include <arpa/inet.h>

		main(argc, argv)
		int argc;
		char *argv[];
		{
			struct in_addr addr;

			addr = inet_addr(argv[1]);
		}

Diagnosis:
	Contrary to the manual page and the <arpa/inet.h> include file,
	the routine "inet_addr" returns "u_long" rather than "struct in_addr".
	The manual page almost admits this in the DIAGNOSTICS section

	    "The value -1 is returned by inet_addr for malformed requests"

	Note that "-1" is not even a "u_long", let alone a "struct in_addr"!

Fix-by:
	Alter the SYNOPSIS part of inet(3n) to read

		# include <sys/types.h>
		# include <netinet/in.h>
		# include <arpa/inet.h>

		long inet_addr(cp)
		char *cp;

	Fix <arpa/inet.h> and lib/libc/inet/inet_addr.c accordingly.

Robert Stroud,
Computing Laboratory,
University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

ARPA robert%cheviot.newcastle@ucl-cs.ARPA
UUCP ...!ukc!cheviot!robert