ntohs function (winsock.h)

Article
02/22/2024

The ntohs function converts a u_short from TCP/IP network byte order to host byte order (which is little-endian on Intel processors).

Syntax

u_short ntohs(
  [in] u_short netshort
);

Parameters

[in] netshort

A 16-bit number in TCP/IP network byte order.

Return value

The ntohs function returns the value in host byte order. If the netshort parameter is already in host byte order, then this function will reverse it. It is up to the application to determine if the byte order must be reversed.

Remarks

The ntohs function takes a 16-bit number in TCP/IP network byte order (the AF_INET or AF_INET6 address family) and returns a 16-bit number in host byte order.

The ntohs function can be used to convert an IP port number in network byte order to the IP port number in host byte order.

The ntohs function does not require that the Winsock DLL has previously been loaded with a successful call to the WSAStartup function.

Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: This function is supported for Windows Store apps on Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and later.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 8.1, Windows Vista [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winsock.h (include Winsock2.h)
Library	Ws2_32.lib
DLL	Ws2_32.dll