PCAP_NEXT_EX(3)        FreeBSD Library Functions Manual        PCAP_NEXT_EX(3)

NAME
       pcap_next_ex, pcap_next - read the next packet from a pcap_t

SYNOPSIS
       #include <pcap/pcap.h>

       int pcap_next_ex(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr **pkt_header,
               const u_char **pkt_data);
       const u_char *pcap_next(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr *h);

DESCRIPTION
       pcap_next_ex() reads the next packet and returns a success/failure
       indication.  If the packet was read without problems, the pointer
       pointed to by the pkt_header argument is set to point to the
       pcap_pkthdr struct for the packet, and the pointer pointed to by the
       pkt_data argument is set to point to the data in the packet.  The
       struct pcap_pkthdr and the packet data are not to be freed by the
       caller, and are not guaranteed to be valid after the next call to
       pcap_next_ex(), pcap_next(), pcap_loop(3), or pcap_dispatch(3); if the
       code needs them to remain valid, it must make a copy of them.

       pcap_next() reads the next packet (by calling pcap_dispatch() with a
       cnt of 1) and returns a u_char pointer to the data in that packet.  The
       packet data is not to be freed by the caller, and is not guaranteed to
       be valid after the next call to pcap_next_ex(), pcap_next(),
       pcap_loop(), or pcap_dispatch(); if the code needs it to remain valid,
       it must make a copy of it.  The pcap_pkthdr structure pointed to by h
       is filled in with the appropriate values for the packet.

       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(PCAP) 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 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_next_ex() returns 1 if the packet was read without problems, 0 if
       packets are being read from a live capture and the packet buffer
       timeout expired, PCAP_ERROR if an error occurred while reading the
       packet, and PCAP_ERROR_BREAK if packets are being read from a
       ``savefile'' and there are no more packets to read from the savefile.
       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.

       pcap_next() returns a pointer to the packet data on success, and
       returns NULL if an error occurred, or 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.''
       Unfortunately, there is no way to determine whether an error occurred
       or not.

SEE ALSO
       pcap(3)

                                 25 July 2018                  PCAP_NEXT_EX(3)