Returns an associative array containing information about a user referenced by a numeric user ID, passed in the uid 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. |
| 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, should be the same as the uid parameter used when calling the function, and hence redundant. |
| 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. |