liboping(3)

NAME

   liboping - Library to send ICMPv4/ICMPv6 echo packets to multiple hosts

DESCRIPTION

   This is an overview of liboping, a C library to send ICMP ECHO_REQUEST
   packets to remote hosts and measure the time it takes for replies to be
   received. This method, often simply called "ping", is a common way to
   measure network latency and/or host reachability.

   The goals of this library are to provide the above functionality in a
   platform and protocol independent manner. The interface is simple,
   object oriented and (hopefully) ANSI-C compliant.

GENERAL USAGE

   There are two main types that are used by applications. Both are
   "opaque types", meaning they are structures that are not completely
   defined in the header file, so you cannot access the structures'
   members. You don't need to, don't do it. These structures are subject
   to change without notice.

   "pingobj_t"
       A ping-object. You can set specific options for this object, add
       and remove hosts to/from it and send ICMP packets to all associated
       hosts. This is often called a "handle".

   "pingobj_iter_t"
       An iterator over the hosts associated with a "pingobj_t" object.
       This iterator can be used to query more information about a host,
       for example the hostname, the measured latency or the current ICMP
       sequence.

   Upon startup you usually create one or more "pingobj_t" objects and add
   hosts to it using the "ping_host_add" method (see below). You
   periodically send "echo requests" using the "ping_send" method, iterate
   over all hosts using "ping_iterator_get" and "ping_iterator_next". For
   each host you call "ping_iterator_get_info" to read the current latency
   and do something with it.

   If an error occurs you can use "ping_get_error" so get information on
   what failed.

LINKING WITH LIBOPING

   Depending on you platform you don't need any extra libraries (e.g.
   GNU/Linux) or "libsocket" (using "-lsocket") if the "socket" function
   is not in the C-library. The latter is the case for the Solaris
   operating system.

SYMBOL NAMES

   All "official" function or method names are prefixed with "ping_".
   Don't use any other functions or methods. Although no such functions
   should exist.

THREAD SAFETY

   liboping has been designed to be as thread safe a possible. However,
   this has not been tested and may need some additional work. Use at your
   own risk and please report back any problems or success messages. Thank
   you :)

SEE ALSO

   ping_construct(3), ping_setopt(3), ping_host_add(3), ping_send(3),
   ping_get_error(3), ping_iterator_get(3), ping_iterator_get_info(3),
   ping_iterator_get_context(3)

LICENSE

   liboping is licensed under the GPLv2. No other version of the license
   is applicable.

AUTHOR

   liboping is written by Florian "octo" Forster <ff at octo.it>.  Its
   homepage can be found at <http://noping.cc/>.

   Copyright (c) 2005-2016 by Florian "octo" Forster.

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