4.3BSD - /usr/man/cat3/getlogin.0

GETLOGIN(3)                                                        GETLOGIN(3)


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 userid is shared by several login names.

       If getlogin is called within a process that is not attached to a termi‐
       nal, or if there is no entry in /etc/utmp for the  process’s  terminal,
       getlogin returns a NULL pointer (0).  A reasonable procedure for deter‐
       mining the login name is to first call getlogin and  if  it  fails,  to
       call getpwuid(getuid()).

FILES
       /etc/utmp

SEE ALSO
       getpwent(3), utmp(5), ttyslot(3)

DIAGNOSTICS
       Returns a NULL pointer (0) if name not found.

BUGS
       The  return values point to static data whose content is overwritten by
       each call.


7th Edition                       May 9, 1986                      GETLOGIN(3)