This category includes the following APIs:

Configuration - NetConfigGet2
Configuration - NetConfigGetAll2

Configuration APIs retrieve network configuration information from the IBMLAN.INI file. The NetConfigGet2 API retrieves a single parameter value for a given network component; NetConfigGetAll2 returns all the parameters for the given component. These APIs are used with the CONFIG.H and NETCONS.H header files.

The IBMLAN.INI file is an ASCII file containing the configuration information for LAN Server services. User-defined services and applications also store network configuration information in this file.

The IBMLAN.INI file consists of component lines, parameter lines, and comment lines in a format that enables the configuration functions to browse through and retrieve the information. The format is as follows:

• Component lines mark the start of information about a component, in the form:

  [componentname]

• Parameter lines contain a parameter and a value, in the form:

  parameter = value

  The parameter value can consist of arbitrary text and is not processed by the configuration APIs, except that leading and trailing spaces are stripped. Interpretation of the value is left to the caller. No quotation marks are allowed as part of the parameter value.

  If a parameter appears several times for any one component, NetConfigGetAll2 returns each occurrence; NetConfigGet2 returns only the first occurrence. The same parameter name can be used under different components without affecting the NetConfigGet2 return.

• Comment lines are any blank lines or lines in which the first nonblank character is a semicolon (;).

An IBMLAN.INI requester component might contain the following information:

[requester]   ; define net_tool requester
   computername = net_tool
   charcount = 16

As shown, the requester defines a computer name of net_tool and specifies that 16 bytes of characters must accumulate before a requester sends them to a serial device queue.

Note: The IBMLAN.INI file contains default values for network components. These values might not reflect actual values passed to a network service. If you notice inconsistencies between IBMLAN.INI entries and actual service values, examine the manner in which you have defined these service values within your application. To maintain consistency, call NetConfigGetAll2 and examine the returned values before setting new parameter values for a given component.