---
name: "Net::addrinfo"
section: "3pm"
platform: "linux"
package: "dnssec-tools"
version: "2.2.3-16"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/Net::addrinfo"
---

# Net::addrinfo(3pm)

interface to POSIX getaddrinfo(3) and related constants, structures and functions.

## NAME

Net::addrinfo - interface to POSIX [getaddrinfo(3)](/getaddrinfo/3.md) and related constants, structures and functions.

## SYNOPSIS

```
 use Net::addrinfo;
 my $ainfo = getaddrinfo("www.marzot.net");
```

## DESCRIPTION

This Perl module is designed to implement and export functionality related to the POSIX [**getaddrinfo**(3)](/getaddrinfo/3.md) system call. The Net::addrinfo data object is provided with field name accsessor functions, similarly named to the the C data structure definition in *netdb.h*. The [**getaddrinfo**(3)](/getaddrinfo/3.md), [**gai\_strerror**(3)](/gai_strerror/3.md) calls, and related constants are exported.

The **getaddrinfo()** routine mimics the POSIX documented funtion (see system man page [**getaddrinfo**(3)](/getaddrinfo/3.md)).

On success the **getaddrinfo()** will return an array of Net::addrinfo data objects.

In scalar context **getaddrinfo()** will return the first element from the Net::addrinfo array.

In case of error, a numeric error code is returned.

The error code may be passed to **gai\_strerror()** to get a string representation of the error.

New Net::addrinfo objects may be created with the package constructor and any number (or none) of the fields may be specified.

```
   flags => scalar integer
   family => scalar integer (e.g., AF_INET,m AF_INET6, etc.)
   socktype => scalar integer (e.g., SOCK_DGRAM, SOCK_STREAM, etc.)
   protocol => scalar integer (e.g., IPPROTO_UDP, IPPROTO_TCP, etc.)
   addrlen => scalar integer (can be computed by length($self->addr))
   addr => packed bytes (e.g., $self->addr(inet_aton("192.168.1.1")); )
```

Flags may be set in the structure so that it may be used as a 'hint' parameter to the **getaddrinfo()** function. See exported `@AI_FLAGS` for list of acceptable constants.

(Note: a special scalar integer field, 'val\_status', is provided in support of DNSSEC aware addrinfo results (see Net::DNS::SEC::Validator))

## EXAMPLES

```
 use Net::addrinfo;
 use Socket qw(:all);
 my $hint = new Net::addrinfo(flags => AI_CANONNAME,
                              family => AF_INET,
                              socktype => SOCK_DGRAM);
 my (@ainfo) = getaddrinfo("www.marzot.net", "http", $hint);
 foreach $ainfo (@ainfo) {
    if (ref $ainfo eq 'Net::addrinfo') {
       print $ainfo->stringify(), "\n";
       print "addr = ", inet_ntoa($ainfo->addr), "\n";
       ...
       connect(SH, $ainfo->addr);
     } else {
        print "Error($ainfo):", gai_strerror($ainfo), "\n";
     }
 }
```

## NOTE

One should not rely on the internal representation of this class.

## AUTHOR

G. S. Marzot (marz@users.sourceforge.net)

## COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

```
   Copyright (c) 2006 G. S. Marzot. All rights reserved.  This program
   is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
   the same terms as Perl itself.
   Copyright (c) 2006-2008 SPARTA, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.  This program
   is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
   the same terms as Perl itself.
```