Services and Protocols Files

Section B.4 "Database Files" in the v1.1 WinSock specification states that if local files exist for resolution of the database routines (in the getXbyY() and WSAAsyncGetXbyY() function families), then they must be identical to that used in BSD UNIX (Berkeley Software Distribution version 4.3 is the defacto reference). There are three of these files that correspond to the three sets of functions for hostname/address, services/port number, and protocol name/number resolution. On a BSD UNIX system these files are /etc/hosts, /etc/services, and /etc/protocols, respectively.

It does not make sense to try to present a /etc/hosts file here, since they are site specific, and infrequently used these days in deference to Domain Name Service (DNS). We do not have standard copies of the /etc/services and /etc/procotols files--you should get these from your WinSock vendor--but we have the references from the Assigned Numbers RFC hyperlinked their contents to the RFCs that define their Internet standards. We downloaded these files from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

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