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NSDISPATCH(3)		     Library Functions Manual		   NSDISPATCH(3)

NAME
     nsdispatch -- name-service switch dispatcher routine

LIBRARY
     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <stdarg.h>
     #include <nsswitch.h>

     int
     nsdispatch(void *retval, const ns_dtab dtab[], const char *database,
	 const char *method_name, const ns_src defaults[], ...);

DESCRIPTION
     The  nsdispatch() function invokes the methods specified in dtab in the or-
     der given by nsswitch.conf(5) for the database database until a  successful
     entry is found.

     retval  is  passed  to each method to modify as necessary, to pass back re-
     sults to the caller of nsdispatch().

     Each method has the function signature described by the typedef:

     typedef int (*nss_method)(void *retval, void *mdata, va_list *ap);

     dtab is an array of ns_dtab structures, which have the following format:

	   typedef struct _ns_dtab {
		   const char	   *src;
		   nss_method	    method;
		   void 	   *mdata;
	   } ns_dtab;

     The dtab array should consist of one entry for each source type that is im-
     plemented, with src as the name of the source, method as a  function  which
     handles  that  source, and mdata as a handle on arbitrary data to be passed
     to the method.  The last entry in dtab should contain NULL values for  src,
     method, and mdata.

     Additionally, methods may be implemented in NSS modules, in which case they
     are  selected  using  the database and method_name arguments along with the
     configured source.  Modules must use source names different from the built-
     in ones.

     defaults contains a list of default sources to try if  nsswitch.conf(5)  is
     missing or corrupted, or if there is no relevant entry for database.  It is
     an array of ns_src structures, which have the following format:

	   typedef struct _ns_src {
		   const char	   *src;
		   uint32_t	    flags;
	   } ns_src;

     The  defaults  array should consist of one entry for each source to be con-
     figured by default indicated by src, and flags set to the criterion desired
     (usually NS_SUCCESS; refer to "Method return values" for more information).
     The last entry in defaults should have src set to NULL and flags set to 0.

     For convenience, a global variable defined as:

	   extern const ns_src __nsdefaultsrc[];

     exists which contains a single default entry for the  source  `files'  that
     may be used by callers which do not require complicated default rules.

     `...'  are  optional  extra  arguments, which are passed to the appropriate
     method as a variable argument list of the type va_list.

   Valid source types
     While there is support for arbitrary sources, the	following  #defines  for
     commonly implemented sources are available:

	   #define	   value
	   NSSRC_FILES	   "files"
	   NSSRC_DB	   "db"
	   NSSRC_DNS	   "dns"
	   NSSRC_NIS	   "nis"
	   NSSRC_COMPAT    "compat"

     Refer  to	nsswitch.conf(5)  for a complete description of what each source
     type is.

   Method return values
     The nss_method functions must return one of the following values  depending
     upon status of the lookup:

     Return value    Status code
     NS_SUCCESS      success
     NS_NOTFOUND     notfound
     NS_UNAVAIL      unavail
     NS_TRYAGAIN     tryagain
     NS_RETURN	     -none-

     Refer to nsswitch.conf(5) for a complete description of each status code.

     The  nsdispatch()	function returns the value of the method that caused the
     dispatcher to terminate, or NS_NOTFOUND otherwise.

NOTES
     FreeBSD's Standard C Library (libc, -lc) provides stubs  for  compatibility
     with  NSS	modules  written for the GNU C Library nsswitch interface.  How-
     ever, these stubs only support the use of the "passwd"  and  "group"  data-
     bases.

SEE ALSO
     hesiod(3), stdarg(3), nsswitch.conf(5), yp(8)

HISTORY
     The  nsdispatch()	function first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0.  It was imported
     from the NetBSD Project, where it appeared first in  NetBSD  1.4.	 Support
     for NSS modules first appeared in FreeBSD 5.1.

AUTHORS
     Luke  Mewburn  <lukem@netbsd.org> wrote this freely-distributable name-ser-
     vice switch implementation, using ideas from  the	ULTRIX	svc.conf(5)  and
     Solaris  nsswitch.conf(4) manual pages.  The FreeBSD Project added the sup-
     port for threads and NSS modules, and normalized the uses	of  nsdispatch()
     within the standard C library.

FreeBSD 14.3			October 15, 2018		   NSDISPATCH(3)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=nsdispatch&manpath=FreeBSD+14.3-RELEASE+and+Ports>

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