ns

NS(3)                    BSD Library Functions Manual                    NS(3)

NAME
     ns_addr, ns_ntoa - Xerox NS(tm) address conversion routines

SYNOPSIS
     #include <sys/types.h>
     #include <netns/ns.h>

     struct ns_addr
     ns_addr(char *cp);

     char *
     ns_ntoa(struct ns_addr ns);

DESCRIPTION
     The routine ns_addr() interprets character strings representing XNS
     addresses, returning binary information suitable for use in system calls.
     The routine ns_ntoa() takes XNS addresses and returns ASCII strings rep-
     resenting the address in a notation in common use in the Xerox Develop-
     ment Environment:

           <network number>.<host number>.<port number>

     Trailing zero fields are suppressed, and each number is printed in hex-
     adecimal, in a format suitable for input to ns_addr().  Any fields lack-
     ing super-decimal digits will have a trailing 'H' appended.

     Unfortunately, no universal standard exists for representing XNS
     addresses.  An effort has been made to ensure that ns_addr() be compati-
     ble with most formats in common use.  It will first separate an address
     into 1 to 3 fields using a single delimiter chosen from period ('.'),
     colon (':'), or pound-sign '#'.  Each field is then examined for byte
     separators (colon or period).  If there are byte separators, each sub-
     field separated is taken to be a small hexadecimal number, and the
     entirety is taken as a network-byte-ordered quantity to be zero extended
     in the high-network-order bytes.  Next, the field is inspected for
     hyphens, in which case the field is assumed to be a number in decimal
     notation with hyphens separating the millenia.  Next, the field is
     assumed to be a number: It is interpreted as hexadecimal if there is a
     leading '0x' (as in C), a trailing 'H' (as in Mesa), or there are any
     super-decimal digits present.  It is interpreted as octal is there is a
     leading '0' and there are no super-octal digits.  Otherwise, it is con-
     verted as a decimal number.

RETURN VALUES
     None.  (See BUGS.)

SEE ALSO
     hosts(5), networks(5)

HISTORY
     The ns_addr() and ns_toa() functions appeared in 4.3BSD.

BUGS
     The string returned by ns_ntoa() resides in a static memory area.  The
     function ns_addr() should diagnose improperly formed input, and there
     should be an unambiguous way to recognize this.

BSD                              June 4, 1993                              BSD