The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7
IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition
Copyright © 2001-2013 The IEEE and The Open Group

#### NAME

> inet_ntop, inet_pton - convert IPv4 and IPv6 addresses between binary and text form

#### SYNOPSIS

> ``#include <arpa/inet.h>
> const char *inet_ntop(int` af`, const void *restrict` src`,
> char *restrict` dst`, socklen_t` size`);
> int inet_pton(int` af`, const char *restrict` src`, void *restrict` dst`);
> ``

#### DESCRIPTION

> The inet_ntop() function shall convert a numeric address into a text string suitable for presentation. The af argument shall specify the family of the address. This can be AF_INET [IP6] or AF_INET6. The src argument points to a buffer holding an IPv4 address if the af argument is AF_INET, [IP6] or an IPv6 address if the af argument is AF_INET6; the address must be in network byte order. The dst argument points to a buffer where the function stores the resulting text string; it shall not be NULL. The size argument specifies the size of this buffer, which shall be large enough to hold the text string (INET_ADDRSTRLEN characters for IPv4, [IP6] INET6_ADDRSTRLEN characters for IPv6).

> The inet_pton() function shall convert an address in its standard text presentation form into its numeric binary form. The af argument shall specify the family of the address. The AF_INET [IP6] and AF_INET6 address families shall be supported. The src argument points to the string being passed in. The dst argument points to a buffer into which the function stores the numeric address; this shall be large enough to hold the numeric address (32 bits for AF_INET, [IP6] 128 bits for AF_INET6).

> If the af argument of inet_pton() is AF_INET, the src string shall be in the standard IPv4 dotted-decimal form:

>     ddd.ddd.ddd.ddd

> where `"ddd"` is a one to three digit decimal number between 0 and 255 (see inet_addr). The inet_pton() function does not accept other formats (such as the octal numbers, hexadecimal numbers, and fewer than four numbers that inet_addr() accepts).

> [IP6] If the af argument of inet_pton() is AF_INET6, the src string shall be in one of the following standard IPv6 text forms:

> 1. The preferred form is `"x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x"`, where the `'x'` s are the hexadecimal values of the eight 16-bit pieces of the address. Leading zeros in individual fields can be omitted, but there shall be at least one numeral in every field.

> 2. A string of contiguous zero fields in the preferred form can be shown as `"::"`. The `"::"` can only appear once in an address. Unspecified addresses ( `"0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0"` ) may be represented simply as `"::"`.

> 3. A third form that is sometimes more convenient when dealing with a mixed environment of IPv4 and IPv6 nodes is `"x:x:x:x:x:x:d.d.d.d"`, where the `'x'` s are the hexadecimal values of the six high-order 16-bit pieces of the address, and the `'d'` s are the decimal values of the four low-order 8-bit pieces of the address (standard IPv4 representation).

> Note:
>   A more extensive description of the standard representations of IPv6 addresses can be found in RFC 2373.

#### RETURN VALUE

> The inet_ntop() function shall return a pointer to the buffer containing the text string if the conversion succeeds, and NULL otherwise, and set errno to indicate the error.

> The inet_pton() function shall return 1 if the conversion succeeds, with the address pointed to by dst in network byte order. It shall return 0 if the input is not a valid IPv4 dotted-decimal string [IP6] or a valid IPv6 address string, or -1 with errno set to [EAFNOSUPPORT] if the af argument is unknown.

#### ERRORS

> The inet_ntop() and inet_pton() functions shall fail if:

> [EAFNOSUPPORT]
>   The af argument is invalid.
> [ENOSPC]
>   The size of the inet_ntop() result buffer is inadequate.

The following sections are informative.

#### EXAMPLES

> None.

#### APPLICATION USAGE

> None.

#### RATIONALE

> None.

#### FUTURE DIRECTIONS

> None.

#### SEE ALSO

> XBD <arpa/inet.h>

#### CHANGE HISTORY

> First released in Issue 6. Derived from the XNS, Issue 5.2 specification.

> IPv6 extensions are marked.

> The restrict keyword is added to the inet_ntop() and inet_pton() prototypes for alignment with the ISO/IEC 9899:1999 standard.

> IEEE Std 1003.1-2001/Cor 1-2002, item XSH/TC1/D6/29 is applied, adding ``the address must be in network byte order'' to the end of the fourth sentence of the first paragraph in the DESCRIPTION.

End of informative text.

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