NIS+ API

The NIS+ application programming interface (API) is a group of functions that can be called by an application to access and modify NIS+ objects. The NIS+ API has 54 functions that fall into nine categories:

Object manipulation functions (nis_names)
Table access functions (nis_tables)
Local name functions (nis_local_names)
Group manipulation functions (nis_groups)
Server related functions (nis_server)
Database access functions (nis_db)
Error message display functions (nis_error)
Transaction log functions (nis_admin)
Miscellaneous functions (nis_subr)

The functions in each category are summarized in the following table. The category names match the names by which they are grouped in the NIS+ man pages.

Table 9-2 NIS+ API Functions

Function	Description
`nis_names()`	Locates and manipulates objects.
`nis_lookup()`	Returns a copy of a NIS+ object. Can follow links. Though it cannot search for an entry object, if a link points to one, it can return an entry object.
`nis_add()`	Adds a NIS+ object to the namespace.
`nis_remove()`	Removes a NIS+ object in the namespace.
`nis_modify()`	Modifies a NIS+ object in the namespace.
`nis_tables`	Searches and updates tables.
`nis_list()`	Searches a table in the NIS+ namespace and returns entry objects that match the search criteria. Can follow links and search paths from one table to another.
`nis_add_entry()`	Adds an entry object to a NIS+ table. Can be instructed to either fail or overwrite if the entry object already exists. Can return a copy of the resulting object if the operation was successful.
`nis_freeresult()`	Frees all memory associated with a `nis_result` structure.
`nis_remove_entry()`	Removes one or more entry objects from a NIS+ table. Can identify the object to be removed by using search criteria or by pointing to a cached copy of the object. If using search criteria, can remove all objects that match the search criteria; therefore, with the proper search criteria, can remove all entries in a table. Can return a copy of the resulting object if the operation was successful.
`nis_modify_entry()`	Modifies one or more entry objects in a NIS+ table. Can identify the object to be modified by using search criteria or by pointing to a cached copy of the object.
`nis_first_entry()`	Returns a copy of the first entry object in a NIS+ table.
`nis_next_entry()`	Returns a copy of the “next” entry object in a NIS+ table. Because a table can be updated and entries removed or modified between calls to this function, the order of entries returned might not match the actual order of entries in the table.
`nis_local_names()`	Gets default names for the current process.
`nis_local_directory()`	Returns the name of the workstation's NIS+ domain.
`nis_local_host()`	Returns the fully qualified name of the workstation. A fully qualified name has the form `host-name`.`domain-name`.
`nis_local_group()`	Returns the name of the current NIS+ group, which is specified by the environment variable NIS_GROUP.
`nis_local_principal()`	Returns the name of the NIS+ principal that has a UID associated with the calling process.
`nis_getnames()`	Returns a list of possible expansions to a particular name.
`nis_freenames()`	Frees the memory containing the list generated by `nis_getnames()`.
`nis_groups()`	Group manipulation and authorization.
`nis_ismember()`	Tests whether a principal is a member of a group.
`nis_addmember()`	Adds a member to a group. The member can be a principal, a group, or a domain.
`nis_removemember()`	Deletes a member from a group.
`nis_creategroup()`	Creates a group object.
`nis_destroygroup()`	Deletes a group object.
`nis_verifygroup()`	Tests whether a group object exists.
`nis_print_group_entry()`	Lists the principals that are members of a group object.
`nis_server`	Various services for NIS+ applications.
`nis_mkdir()`	Creates the databases to support service for a named directory on a specified host.
`nis_rmdir()`	Removes the directory from a host.
`nis_servstate()`	Sets and reads state variables of NIS+ servers and flushes internal caches.
`nis_stats()`	Retrieves statistics about a server's performance.
`nis_getservlist()`	Returns a list of servers that support a particular domain.
`nis_freeservlist()`	Frees the list of servers returned by `nis_getservlist()`.
`nis_freetags()`	Frees the memory associated with the results of `nis_servstate()` and `nis_stats()`.
`nis_db`	Interface between the NIS+ server and the database. Not to be used by a NIS+ client.
`db_first_entry()`	Returns a copy of the first entry of the specified table.
`db_next_entry()`	Returns a copy of the entry succeeding the specified entry.
`db_reset_next_entry()`	Terminates a first/next entry sequence.
`db_list_entries()`	Returns copies of entries that meet specified attributes.
`db_remove_entry()`	Removes all entries that meet specified attributes.
`db_add_entry()`	Replaces an entry in a table identified by specified attributes with a copy of the specified object, or adds the object to the table.
`db_checkpoint()`	Reorganizes the contents of a table to make access to the table more efficient.
`db_standby()`	Advises the database manager to release resources.
`nis_error()`	Functions that supply descriptive strings equivalent to NIS+ status values.
`nis_sperrno()`	Returns a pointer to the appropriate string constant.
`nis_perror()`	Displays the appropriate string constant on standard output.
`nis_lerror()`	Sends the appropriate string constant to `syslog`.
`nis_sperror()`	Returns a pointer to a statically allocated string to be used or to be copied with `strdup()`.
`nis_admin`	Transaction logging functions used by servers.
`nis_ping`	Used by the master server of a directory to timestamp it. This forces replicas of the directory to be updated.
`nis_checkpoint()`	Forces logged data to be stored in the table on disk.
`nis_subr`	Functions to help operate on NIS+ names and objects.
`nis_leaf_of()`	Returns the first label in a NIS+ name. The returned name does not have a trailing dot.
`nis_name_of()`	Removes all domain-related labels and returns only the unique object portion of the name. The name passed to the function must be either in the local domain or in one of its child domains, or the function returns NULL.
`nis_domain_of()`	Returns the name of the domain in which an object resides. The returned name ends in a dot.
`nis_dir_cmp()`	Compares any two NIS+ names. The comparison ignores case and states whether the names are the same, descendants of each other, or not related.
`nis_clone_object()`	Creates an exact duplicate of a NIS+ object.
`nis_destroy_object()`	Destroys an object created by `nis_clone_object()`.
`nis_print_object()`	Prints the contents of a NIS+ object structure to `stdout`.