NAME

getlogin − get login name

SYNOPSIS

char ∗getlogin ( );

DESCRIPTION

getlogin returns a pointer to the login name as found in /etc/utmp. It may be used in conjunction with getpwnam to locate the correct password file entry when the same user ID is shared by several login names. 

If getlogin is called within a process that is not attached to a terminal, it returns a NULL pointer.  The correct procedure for determining the login name is to call cuserid, or to call getlogin and if it fails to call getpwuid.

FILES

/etc/utmp

SEE ALSO

cuserid(3S), getgrent(3C), getpwent(3C), utmp(4)

DIAGNOSTICS

Returns the NULL pointer if name is not found. 

CAVEAT

The return values point to static data whose contents are overwritten by each call. 

September 02, 1992