4.2BSD/usr/man/man5/hosts.5

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.TH HOSTS 5  "15 January 1983"
.SH NAME
hosts \- host name data base
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I hosts
file contains information regarding
the known hosts on the DARPA Internet.
For each host a single line should be present
with the following information:
.HP 10
official host name
.br
.ns
.HP 10
Internet address
.br
.ns
.HP 10
aliases
.PP
Items are separated by any number of blanks and/or
tab characters.  A ``#'' indicates the beginning of
a comment; characters up to the end of the line are
not interpreted by routines which search the file.
This file is normally created from the official host
data base maintained at the Network Information Control
Center (NIC), though local changes may be required
to bring it up to date regarding unofficial aliases
and/or unknown hosts.
.PP
Network addresses are specified in the conventional
``.'' notation using the \fIinet_addr\fP() routine
from the Internet address manipulation library,
.IR inet (3N).
Host names may contain any printable
character other than a field delimiter, newline,
or comment character.
.SH FILES
/etc/hosts
.SH "SEE ALSO"
gethostent(3N)
.SH BUGS
A name server should be used instead of a static file.
A binary indexed file format should be available for fast access.