PCAP_NEXT_EX(3PCAP) PCAP_NEXT_EX(3PCAP)
NAME
pcap_next_ex, pcap_next - read the next packet from a pcap_t
SYNOPSIS
#include <pcap/pcap.h>
int pcap_next_ex(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr **pkt_header,
const u_char **pkt_data);
const u_char *pcap_next(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr *h);
DESCRIPTION
pcap_next_ex() reads the next packet and returns a success/failure in-
dication. If the packet was read without problems, the pointer pointed
to by the pkt_header argument is set to point to the pcap_pkthdr struct
for the packet, and the pointer pointed to by the pkt_data argument is
set to point to the data in the packet. The struct pcap_pkthdr and the
packet data are not to be freed by the caller, and are not guaranteed
to be valid after the next call to pcap_next_ex(), pcap_next(),
pcap_loop(3PCAP), or pcap_dispatch(3PCAP); if the code needs them to
remain valid, it must make a copy of them.
pcap_next() reads the next packet (by calling pcap_dispatch() with a
cnt of 1) and returns a u_char pointer to the data in that packet. The
packet data is not to be freed by the caller, and is not guaranteed to
be valid after the next call to pcap_next_ex(), pcap_next(),
pcap_loop(), or pcap_dispatch(); if the code needs it to remain valid,
it must make a copy of it. The pcap_pkthdr structure pointed to by h
is filled in with the appropriate values for the packet.
The bytes of data from the packet begin with a link-layer header. The
format of the link-layer header is indicated by the return value of the
pcap_datalink(3PCAP) routine when handed the pcap_t value also passed
to pcap_loop() or pcap_dispatch(). https://www.tcpdump.org/link-
types.html lists the values pcap_datalink() can return and describes
the packet formats that correspond to those values. The value it re-
turns will be valid for all packets received unless and until
pcap_set_datalink(3PCAP) is called; after a successful call to
pcap_set_datalink(), all subsequent packets will have a link-layer
header of the type specified by the link-layer header type value passed
to pcap_set_datalink().
Do NOT assume that the packets for a given capture or ``savefile`` will
have any given link-layer header type, such as DLT_EN10MB for Ethernet.
For example, the "any" device on Linux will have a link-layer header
type of DLT_LINUX_SLL or DLT_LINUX_SLL2 even if all devices on the sys-
tem at the time the "any" device is opened have some other data link
type, such as DLT_EN10MB for Ethernet.
RETURN VALUE
pcap_next_ex() returns 1 if the packet was read without problems, 0 if
packets are being read from a live capture and the packet buffer time-
out expired, PCAP_ERROR_BREAK if packets are being read from a ``save-
file'' and there are no more packets to read from the savefile,
PCAP_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVATED if called on a capture handle that has been
created but not activated, or PCAP_ERROR if an error occurred while
reading the packet. If PCAP_ERROR is returned, pcap_geterr(3PCAP) or
pcap_perror(3PCAP) may be called with p as an argument to fetch or dis-
play the error text.
pcap_next() returns a pointer to the packet data on success, and re-
turns NULL if an error occurred, or if no packets were read from a live
capture (if, for example, they were discarded because they didn't pass
the packet filter, or if, on platforms that support a packet buffer
timeout that starts before any packets arrive, the timeout expires be-
fore any packets arrive, or if the file descriptor for the capture de-
vice is in non-blocking mode and no packets were available to be read),
or if no more packets are available in a ``savefile.'' Unfortunately,
there is no way to determine whether an error occurred or not.
SEE ALSO
pcap(3PCAP)
5 March 2022 PCAP_NEXT_EX(3PCAP)
Generated by dwww version 1.15 on Sun Jun 30 21:34:10 CEST 2024.