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PCAP_LOOP(3)               Library Functions Manual               PCAP_LOOP(3)



NAME
       pcap_loop, pcap_dispatch - process packets from a live capture or
       savefile

SYNOPSIS
       #include <pcap/pcap.h>

       typedef void (*pcap_handler)(u_char *user, const struct pcap_pkthdr *h,
                                   const u_char *bytes);

       int pcap_loop(pcap_t *p, int cnt,
               pcap_handler callback, u_char *user);
       int pcap_dispatch(pcap_t *p, int cnt,
               pcap_handler callback, u_char *user);

DESCRIPTION
       pcap_loop() processes packets from a live capture or ``savefile'' until
       cnt packets are processed, the end of the ``savefile'' is reached when
       reading from a ``savefile'', pcap_breakloop(3) is called, or an error
       occurs.  It does not return when live packet buffer timeouts occur.  A
       value of -1 or 0 for cnt is equivalent to infinity, so that packets are
       processed until another ending condition occurs.

       pcap_dispatch() processes packets from a live capture or ``savefile''
       until cnt packets are processed, the end of the current bufferful of
       packets is reached when doing a live capture, the end of the
       ``savefile'' is reached when reading from a ``savefile'',
       pcap_breakloop() is called, or an error occurs.  Thus, when doing a
       live capture, cnt is the maximum number of packets to process before
       returning, but is not a minimum number; when reading a live capture,
       only one bufferful of packets is read at a time, so fewer than cnt
       packets may be processed. A value of -1 or 0 for cnt causes all the
       packets received in one buffer to be processed when reading a live
       capture, and causes all the packets in the file to be processed when
       reading a ``savefile''.

       Note that, when doing a live capture on some platforms, if the read
       timeout expires when there are no packets available, pcap_dispatch()
       will return 0, even when not in non-blocking mode, as there are no
       packets to process.  Applications should be prepared for this to
       happen, but must not rely on it happening.

       callback specifies a pcap_handler routine to be called with three
       arguments: a u_char pointer which is passed in the user argument to
       pcap_loop() or pcap_dispatch(), a const struct pcap_pkthdr pointer
       pointing to the packet time stamp and lengths, and a const u_char
       pointer to the first caplen (as given in the struct pcap_pkthdr a
       pointer to which is passed to the callback routine) bytes of data from
       the packet.  The struct pcap_pkthdr and the packet data are not to be
       freed by the callback routine, and are not guaranteed to be valid after
       the callback routine returns; if the code needs them to be valid after
       the callback, it must make a copy of them.

       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(3) routine when handed the pcap_t value also passed to
       pcap_loop() or pcap_dispatch().  https://www.tcpdump.org/linktypes.html
       lists the values pcap_datalink() can return and describes the packet
       formats that correspond to those values.  The value it returns will be
       valid for all packets received unless and until pcap_set_datalink(3) 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
       system at the time the "any" device is opened have some other data link
       type, such as DLT_EN10MB for Ethernet.

RETURN VALUE
       pcap_loop() returns 0 if cnt is exhausted or if, when reading from a
       ``savefile'', no more packets are available.  It returns
       PCAP_ERROR_BREAK if the loop terminated due to a call to
       pcap_breakloop() before any packets were processed,
       PCAP_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVATED if called on a capture handle that has been
       created but not activated, or PCAP_ERROR if another error occurs.  It
       does not return when live packet buffer timeouts occur; instead, it
       attempts to read more packets.

       pcap_dispatch() returns the number of packets processed on success;
       this can be 0 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 before any
       packets arrive, or if the file descriptor for the capture device is in
       non-blocking mode and no packets were available to be read) or if no
       more packets are available in a ``savefile.'' It returns
       PCAP_ERROR_BREAK if the loop terminated due to a call to
       pcap_breakloop() before any packets were processed,
       PCAP_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVATED if called on a capture handle that has been
       created but not activated, or PCAP_ERROR if another error occurs.  If
       your application uses pcap_breakloop(), make sure that you explicitly
       check for PCAP_ERROR and PCAP_ERROR_BREAK, rather than just checking
       for a return value < 0.

       If PCAP_ERROR is returned, pcap_geterr(3) or pcap_perror(3) may be
       called with p as an argument to fetch or display the error text.

BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY
       In libpcap versions before 1.5.0, the behavior when cnt was 0 was
       undefined; different platforms and devices behaved differently, so code
       that must work with these versions of libpcap should use -1, not 0, as
       the value of cnt.

SEE ALSO
       pcap(3)



                                 5 March 2022                     PCAP_LOOP(3)