Returns an associative array containing information about a user referenced by an alphanumeric username, passed in the username parameter.
The array elements returned are:
Table 1. The user information array
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| name | The name element contains the username of the user. This is a short, usually less than 16 character "handle" of the user, not her real, full name. This should be the same as the username parameter used when calling the function, and hence redundant. |
| passwd | The passwd element contains the user's password in an encrypted format. Often, for example on a system employing "shadow" passwords, an asterisk is returned instead. |
| uid | User ID of the user in numeric form. |
| gid | The group ID of the user. Use the function posix_getgrgid() to resolve the group name and a list of its members. |
| gecos | GECOS is an obsolete term that refers to the finger information field on a Honeywell batch processing system. The field, however, lives on, and its contents have been formalized by POSIX. The field contains a comma separated list containing the user's full name, office phone, office number, and home phone number. On most systems, only the user's full name is available. |
| dir | This element contains the absolute path to the home directory of the user. |
| shell | The shell element contains the absolute path to the executable of the user's default shell. |