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22.TH PCAP_OPEN_LIVE 3PCAP "5 April 2008"
23.SH NAME
24pcap_open_live \- open a device for capturing
25.SH SYNOPSIS
26.nf
27.ft B
28#include <pcap/pcap.h>
29.ft
30.LP
31.nf
32.ft B
33char errbuf[PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE];
34.ft
35.LP
36.ft B
37pcap_t *pcap_open_live(const char *device, int snaplen,
38.ti +8
39int promisc, int to_ms, char *errbuf);
40.ft
41.fi
42.SH DESCRIPTION
43.B pcap_open_live()
44is used to obtain a packet capture handle to look
45at packets on the network.
46.I device
47is a string that specifies the network device to open; on Linux systems
48with 2.2 or later kernels, a
49.I device
50argument of "any" or
51.B NULL
52can be used to capture packets from all interfaces.
53.PP
54.I snaplen
55specifies the snapshot length to be set on the handle.
56.PP
57.I promisc
58specifies if the interface is to be put into promiscuous mode.
59.PP
60.I to_ms
61specifies the read timeout in milliseconds.
62.SH RETURN VALUE
63.B pcap_open_live()
64returns a
65.I pcap_t *
66on success and
67.B NULL
68on failure.
69If
70.B NULL
71is returned,
72.I errbuf
73is filled in with an appropriate error message.
74.I errbuf
75may also be set to warning text when
76.B pcap_open_live()
77succeeds; to detect this case the caller should store a zero-length string in
78.I errbuf
79before calling
80.B pcap_open_live()
81and display the warning to the user if
82.I errbuf
83is no longer a zero-length string.
84.I errbuf
85is assumed to be able to hold at least
86.B PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE
87chars.
88.SH SEE ALSO
89pcap(3PCAP), pcap_create(3PCAP), pcap_activate(3PCAP)