ADDRINFOEXA structure (ws2def.h)
The addrinfoex structure is used by the GetAddrInfoEx function to hold host address information.
Syntax
typedef struct addrinfoexA {
int ai_flags;
int ai_family;
int ai_socktype;
int ai_protocol;
size_t ai_addrlen;
char *ai_canonname;
struct sockaddr *ai_addr;
void *ai_blob;
size_t ai_bloblen;
LPGUID ai_provider;
struct addrinfoexA *ai_next;
} ADDRINFOEXA, *PADDRINFOEXA, *LPADDRINFOEXA;
Members
ai_flags
Type: int
Flags that indicate options used in the GetAddrInfoEx function.
Supported values for the ai_flags member are defined in the Winsock2.h include file and can be a combination of the following options.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
The socket address will be used in a call to the bind function. |
|
The canonical name is returned in the first ai_canonname member.
When both the AI_CANONNAME and AI_FQDN bits are set, an addrinfoex2 structure is returned not the addrinfoex structure. |
|
The nodename parameter passed to the GetAddrInfoEx function must be a numeric string. |
|
If this bit is set, a request is made for IPv6 addresses and IPv4 addresses with AI_V4MAPPED.
This option is supported on Windows Vista and later. |
|
The GetAddrInfoEx will resolve only if a global address is configured. The IPv6 and IPv4 loopback address is not considered a valid global address.
This option is only supported on Windows Vista and later. |
|
If the GetAddrInfoEx request for an IPv6 addresses fails, a name service request is made for IPv4 addresses and these addresses are converted to IPv4-mapped IPv6 address format.
This option is supported on Windows Vista and later. |
|
The address information is from non-authoritative results.
When this option is set in the pHints parameter of GetAddrInfoEx, the NS_EMAIL namespace provider returns both authoritative and non-authoritative results. If this option is not set, then only authoritative results are returned. In the ppResults parameter returned by GetAddrInfoEx, this flag is set in the ai_flags member of the addrinfoex structure for non-authoritative results. This option is only supported on Windows Vista and later for the NS_EMAIL namespace. |
|
The address information is from a secure channel. If the AI_SECURE bit is set, the NS_EMAIL namespace provider will return results that were obtained with enhanced security to minimize possible spoofing.
When this option is set in the pHints parameter of GetAddrInfoEx, the NS_EMAIL namespace provider returns only results that were obtained with enhanced security to minimize possible spoofing. In the ppResults parameter returned by GetAddrInfoEx, this flag is set in the ai_flags member of the addrinfoex structure for results returned with enhanced security to minimize possible spoofing. This option is only supported on Windows Vista and later for the NS_EMAIL namespace. |
|
The address information is for a preferred names for publication with a specific namespace.
When this option is set in the pHints parameter of GetAddrInfoEx, no name should be provided in the pName parameter and the NS_EMAIL namespace provider will return preferred names for publication. In the ppResults parameter returned by GetAddrInfoEx, this flag is set in the ai_flags member of the addrinfoex structure for results returned for preferred names for publication. This option is only supported on Windows Vista and later for the NS_EMAIL namespace. |
|
The fully qualified domain name is returned in the first ai_canonicalname member.
When this option is set in the pHints parameter of GetAddrInfoEx and a flat name (single label) is specified in the pName parameter, the fully qualified domain name that the name eventually resolved to will be returned. When both the AI_CANONNAME and AI_FQDN bits are set, an addrinfoex2 structure is returned not the addrinfoex structure. This option is supported on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and later. |
|
A hint to the namespace provider that the hostname being queried is being used in a file share scenario. The namespace provider may ignore this hint.
This option is supported on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and later. |
|
Disable the automatic International Domain Name encoding using Punycode in the name resolution functions called by the GetAddrInfoEx function.
This option is supported on Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and later. |
ai_family
Type: int
The address family. Possible values for the address family are defined in the Winsock2.h include file.
On the Windows SDK released for Windows Vista and later,, the organization of header files has changed and the possible values for the address family are defined in the Ws2def.h header file. Note that the Ws2def.h header file is automatically included in Winsock2.h, and should never be used directly.
The values currently supported are AF_INET or AF_INET6, which are the Internet address family formats for IPv4 and IPv6. Other options for address family (AF_NETBIOS for use with NetBIOS, for example) are supported if a Windows Sockets service provider for the address family is installed. Note that the values for the AF_ address family and PF_ protocol family constants are identical (for example, AF_UNSPEC and PF_UNSPEC), so either constant can be used.
The table below lists common values for the address family although many other values are possible.
ai_socktype
Type: int
The socket type. Possible values for the socket type are defined in the Winsock2.h include file.
The following table lists the possible values for the socket type supported for Windows Sockets 2:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
|
Provides sequenced, reliable, two-way, connection-based byte streams with an OOB data transmission mechanism. Uses the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) for the Internet address family (AF_INET or AF_INET6). If the ai_family member is AF_IRDA, then SOCK_STREAM is the only supported socket type. |
|
Supports datagrams, which are connectionless, unreliable buffers of a fixed (typically small) maximum length. Uses the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) for the Internet address family (AF_INET or AF_INET6). |
|
Provides a raw socket that allows an application to manipulate the next upper-layer protocol header. To manipulate the IPv4 header, the IP_HDRINCL socket option must be set on the socket. To manipulate the IPv6 header, the IPV6_HDRINCL socket option must be set on the socket. |
|
Provides a reliable message datagram. An example of this type is the Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) multicast protocol implementation in Windows, often referred to as reliable multicast programming. |
|
Provides a pseudo-stream packet based on datagrams. |
In Windows Sockets 2, new socket types were introduced. An application can dynamically discover the attributes of each available transport protocol through the WSAEnumProtocols function. So an application can determine the possible socket type and protocol options for an address family and use this information when specifying this parameter. Socket type definitions in the Winsock2.h and Ws2def.h header files will be periodically updated as new socket types, address families, and protocols are defined.
In Windows Sockets 1.1, the only possible socket types are SOCK_DATAGRAM and SOCK_STREAM.
ai_protocol
Type: int
The protocol type. The possible options are specific to the address family and socket type specified. Possible values for the ai_protocol are defined in Winsock2.h and the Wsrm.h header files.
On the Windows SDK released for Windows Vista and later,, the organization of header files has changed and this member can be one of the values from the IPPROTO enumeration type defined in the Ws2def.h header file. Note that the Ws2def.h header file is automatically included in Winsock2.h, and should never be used directly.
If a value of 0 is specified for ai_protocol, the caller does not wish to specify a protocol and the service provider will choose the ai_protocol to use. For protocols other than IPv4 and IPv6, set ai_protocol to zero.
The following table lists common values for the ai_protocol member although many other values are possible.
If the ai_family member is AF_IRDA, then the ai_protocol must be 0.
ai_addrlen
Type: size_t
The length, in bytes, of the buffer pointed to by the ai_addr member.
ai_canonname
Type: PCTSTR
The canonical name for the host.
ai_addr
Type: struct sockaddr*
A pointer to a sockaddr structure. The ai_addr member in each returned addrinfoex structure points to a filled-in socket address structure. The length, in bytes, of each returned addrinfoex structure is specified in the ai_addrlen member.
ai_blob
Type: void*
A pointer to data that is used to return provider-specific namespace information that is associated with the name beyond a list of addresses. The length, in bytes, of the buffer pointed to by ai_blob must be specified in the ai_bloblen member.
ai_bloblen
Type: size_t
The length, in bytes, of the ai_blob member.
ai_provider
Type: LPGUID
A pointer to the GUID of a specific namespace provider.
ai_next
Type: struct addrinfoex*
A pointer to the next structure in a linked list. This parameter is set to NULL in the last addrinfoex structure of a linked list.
Remarks
The addrinfoex structure is used by the GetAddrInfoEx function to hold host address information. The addrinfoex structure is an enhanced version of the addrinfo and addrinfoW structures. The extra structure members are for blob data and the GUID for the namespace provider. The blob data is used to return additional provider-specific namespace information associated with a name. The format of data in the ai_blob member is specific to a particular namespace provider. Currently, blob data is used by the NS_EMAIL namespace provider to supply additional information.
The addrinfoex structure is an enhanced version of the addrinfo and addrinfoW structure used with GetAddrInfoEx function. The GetAddrInfoEx function allows specifying the namespace provider to resolve the query. For use with the IPv6 and IPv4 protocol, name resolution can be by the Domain Name System (DNS), a local hosts file, an email provider (the NS_EMAIL namespace), or by other naming mechanisms.
When UNICODE or _UNICODE is defined, addrinfoex is defined to addrinfoexW, the Unicode version of this structure. The string parameters are defined to the PWSTR data type and the addrinfoexW structure is used.
When UNICODE or _UNICODE is not defined, addrinfoex is defined to addrinfoexA, the ANSI version of this structure. The string parameters are of the PCSTR data type and the addrinfoexA structure is used.
Upon a successful call to GetAddrInfoEx, a linked list of addrinfoex structures is returned in the ppResult parameter passed to the GetAddrInfoEx function. The list can be processed by following the pointer provided in the ai_next member of each returned addrinfoex structure until a NULL pointer is encountered. In each returned addrinfoex structure, the ai_family, ai_socktype, and ai_protocol members correspond to respective arguments in a socket or WSASocket function call. Also, the ai_addr member in each returned addrinfoex structure points to a filled-in socket address structure, the length of which is specified in its ai_addrlen member.
Examples
The following example demonstrates the use of the addrinfoex structure.
#ifndef UNICODE
#define UNICODE
#endif
#ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
#endif
#include <windows.h>
#include <winsock2.h>
#include <ws2tcpip.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "Ws2_32.lib")
int __cdecl wmain(int argc, wchar_t ** argv)
{
//--------------------------------
// Declare and initialize variables.
WSADATA wsaData;
int iResult;
ADDRINFOEX *result = NULL;
ADDRINFOEX *ptr = NULL;
ADDRINFOEX hints;
DWORD dwRetval = 0;
int i = 1;
DWORD dwNamespace = NS_DNS;
LPGUID lpNspid = NULL;
struct sockaddr_in *sockaddr_ipv4;
struct sockaddr_in6 *sockaddr_ipv6;
// LPSOCKADDR sockaddr_ip;
wchar_t ipstringbuffer[46];
// Validate the parameters
if (argc != 3) {
wprintf(L"usage: %ws <hostname> <servicename>\n", argv[0]);
wprintf(L" provides protocol-independent translation\n");
wprintf(L" from a host name to an IP address\n");
wprintf(L"%ws example usage\n", argv[0]);
wprintf(L" %ws www.contoso.com 0\n", argv[0]);
return 1;
}
// Initialize Winsock
iResult = WSAStartup(MAKEWORD(2, 2), &wsaData);
if (iResult != 0) {
wprintf(L"WSAStartup failed: %d\n", iResult);
return 1;
}
//--------------------------------
// Setup the hints address info structure
// which is passed to the GetAddrInfoW() function
memset(&hints, 0, sizeof (hints));
hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
hints.ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
hints.ai_protocol = IPPROTO_TCP;
wprintf(L"Calling GetAddrInfoEx with following parameters:\n");
wprintf(L"\tName = %ws\n", argv[1]);
wprintf(L"\tServiceName (or port) = %ws\n\n", argv[2]);
//--------------------------------
// Call GetAddrInfoEx(). If the call succeeds,
// the aiList variable will hold a linked list
// of ADDRINFOEX structures containing response
// information about the host
dwRetval = GetAddrInfoEx(argv[1], argv[2],
dwNamespace, lpNspid, &hints, &result,
NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
if (dwRetval != 0) {
wprintf(L"GetAddrInfoEx failed with error: %d\n", dwRetval);
WSACleanup();
return 1;
}
wprintf(L"GetAddrInfoEx returned success\n");
// Retrieve each address and print out the hex bytes
for (ptr = result; ptr != NULL; ptr = ptr->ai_next) {
wprintf(L"GetAddrInfoEx response %d\n", i++);
wprintf(L"\tFlags: 0x%x\n", ptr->ai_flags);
wprintf(L"\tFamily: ");
switch (ptr->ai_family) {
case AF_UNSPEC:
wprintf(L"Unspecified\n");
break;
case AF_INET:
wprintf(L"AF_INET (IPv4)\n");
// the InetNtop function is available on Windows Vista and later
sockaddr_ipv4 = (struct sockaddr_in *) ptr->ai_addr;
wprintf(L"\tIPv4 address %ws\n",
InetNtop(AF_INET, &sockaddr_ipv4->sin_addr, ipstringbuffer,
46));
// We could also use the WSAAddressToString function
// sockaddr_ip = (LPSOCKADDR) ptr->ai_addr;
// The buffer length is changed by each call to WSAAddresstoString
// So we need to set it for each iteration through the loop for safety
// ipbufferlength = 46;
// iRetval = WSAAddressToString(sockaddr_ip, (DWORD) ptr->ai_addrlen, NULL,
// ipstringbuffer, &ipbufferlength );
// if (iRetval)
// wprintf(L"WSAAddressToString failed with %u\n", WSAGetLastError() );
// else
// wprintf(L"\tIPv4 address %ws\n", ipstringbuffer);
break;
case AF_INET6:
wprintf(L"AF_INET6 (IPv6)\n");
// the InetNtop function is available on Windows Vista and later
sockaddr_ipv6 = (struct sockaddr_in6 *) ptr->ai_addr;
wprintf(L"\tIPv6 address %ws\n",
InetNtop(AF_INET6, &sockaddr_ipv6->sin6_addr,
ipstringbuffer, 46));
// We could also use WSAAddressToString which also returns the scope ID
// sockaddr_ip = (LPSOCKADDR) ptr->ai_addr;
// The buffer length is changed by each call to WSAAddresstoString
// So we need to set it for each iteration through the loop for safety
// ipbufferlength = 46;
//iRetval = WSAAddressToString(sockaddr_ip, (DWORD) ptr->ai_addrlen, NULL,
// ipstringbuffer, &ipbufferlength );
//if (iRetval)
// wprintf(L"WSAAddressToString failed with %u\n", WSAGetLastError() );
//else
// wprintf(L"\tIPv6 address %ws\n", ipstringbuffer);
break;
default:
wprintf(L"Other %ld\n", ptr->ai_family);
break;
}
wprintf(L"\tSocket type: ");
switch (ptr->ai_socktype) {
case 0:
wprintf(L"Unspecified\n");
break;
case SOCK_STREAM:
wprintf(L"SOCK_STREAM (stream)\n");
break;
case SOCK_DGRAM:
wprintf(L"SOCK_DGRAM (datagram) \n");
break;
case SOCK_RAW:
wprintf(L"SOCK_RAW (raw) \n");
break;
case SOCK_RDM:
wprintf(L"SOCK_RDM (reliable message datagram)\n");
break;
case SOCK_SEQPACKET:
wprintf(L"SOCK_SEQPACKET (pseudo-stream packet)\n");
break;
default:
wprintf(L"Other %ld\n", ptr->ai_socktype);
break;
}
wprintf(L"\tProtocol: ");
switch (ptr->ai_protocol) {
case 0:
wprintf(L"Unspecified\n");
break;
case IPPROTO_TCP:
wprintf(L"IPPROTO_TCP (TCP)\n");
break;
case IPPROTO_UDP:
wprintf(L"IPPROTO_UDP (UDP) \n");
break;
default:
wprintf(L"Other %ld\n", ptr->ai_protocol);
break;
}
wprintf(L"\tLength of this sockaddr: %d\n", ptr->ai_addrlen);
wprintf(L"\tCanonical name: %s\n", ptr->ai_canonname);
}
FreeAddrInfoEx(result);
WSACleanup();
return 0;
}
Requirements
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Minimum supported client | Windows Vista [desktop apps only] |
| Minimum supported server | Windows Server 2008 [desktop apps only] |
| Header | ws2def.h (include Windows Server 2012, Windows 7 Windows Server 2008 R2) |
See also
Feedback
Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see: https://aka.ms/ContentUserFeedback.
Submit and view feedback for