.TH cdb 3

.SH NAME

cdb \- read from a constant database

.SH SYNTAX

.B #include <cdb.h>

int \fBcdb_seek(\fP\fIfd,key,len,dlen\fR\fB)\fP;

int \fIfd\fR;

.br

char *\fIkey\fR;

.br

unsigned int \fIlen\fR;

.br

uint32 *\fIdlen\fR;

.SH DESCRIPTION

.B cdb_seek

looks up

.I key

in a constant database.

It returns 1 if 

.I key

is present,

0 if 

.I key

is not present,

or \-1 if there was a read error.

.I key

is an array of

.I len

characters.

.B cdb_seek

needs an open file descriptor,

.IR fd ,

pointing to the database.

If

.B cdb_seek

returns 1,

it points

.I fd

at the beginning of the data portion of the first record

indexed by

.IR key ,

and it stores the data length in

.IR dlen.

.B cdb_seek

does not provide a way to read subsequent records with the same key.

It's fine to do several

.B cdb_seek

lookups with the same open file descriptor.

Beware, however, that two simultaneous

.B cdb_seek

lookups can fail horribly;

separate processes should not share the same database descriptor.

Furthermore, any updates after the database was opened

will be invisible.

It's rarely a good idea for a long-running program

to hold a database open.

.SH "SEE ALSO"

cdbget(1)