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34.7 Password Database Functions

Octave's password database functions return information in a structure with the following fields.

name
The user name.
passwd
The encrypted password, if available.
uid
The numeric user id.
gid
The numeric group id.
gecos
The GECOS field.
dir
The home directory.
shell
The initial shell.

In the descriptions of the following functions, this data structure is referred to as a pw_struct.

— Loadable Function: pw_struct = getpwent ()

Return a structure containing an entry from the password database, opening it if necessary. Once the end of the data has been reached, getpwent returns 0.

— Loadable Function: pw_struct = getpwuid (uid).

Return a structure containing the first entry from the password database with the user ID uid. If the user ID does not exist in the database, getpwuid returns 0.

— Loadable Function: pw_struct = getpwnam (name)

Return a structure containing the first entry from the password database with the user name name. If the user name does not exist in the database, getpwname returns 0.

— Loadable Function: setpwent ()

Return the internal pointer to the beginning of the password database.

— Loadable Function: endpwent ()

Close the password database.