ARES_PARSE_MX_REPLY(3)

💖 ARES_PARSE_MX_REPLY 💖

okay bestie, pull up a chair, because we're digging into ares_parse_mx_reply from the Library Functions Manual and honestly? it's giving "tiny function, big responsibility" 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

ares_parse_mx_reply — the girl who parses a reply to a DNS query of type MX 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <ares.h>

int ares_parse_mx_reply(const unsigned char* abuf, int alen,
                        struct ares_mx_reply** mx_out);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically, ares_parse_mx_reply takes the response to a query of type MX and turns it into a linked list of struct ares_mx_reply ✨ no cap, that's the whole job.

the parameters abuf and alen give you the contents of the response. the way that it works is: the result gets stored in allocated memory, and a pointer to it gets stored into the variable pointed to by mx_out. 👑

⚠️ bestie, listen: it is the caller's responsibility to free the resulting mx_out structure when it is no longer needed, using ares_free_data(3). don't be the girl who forgets. that's a leak, and leaks are not cute. 😭

the structure ares_mx_reply contains the following fields:

struct ares_mx_reply {
    struct ares_mx_reply *next;
    char *host;
    unsigned short priority;
};

next, host, priority — iconic trio, no notes. 🫶

💀 RETURN VALUES 💀

ares_parse_mx_reply can return any of the following values, and you will be checking them:

• ARES_SUCCESS — slay! the response was successfully parsed. ✅
• ARES_EBADRESP — the response was malformatted. it's giving chaos, and not the fun kind. 🙈
• ARES_ENODATA — the response did not contain an answer to the query. she showed up empty-handed fr fr. 🍓
• ARES_ENOMEM — memory was exhausted. we ran out of room, bestie, it happens to the best of us. 💀

🌈 AVAILABILITY 🌈

this function was first introduced in c-ares version 1.7.2 — vintage but make it functional, iykyk. ⭐

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

• ares_query(3)
• ares_free_data(3)

and that's the whole page, bestie!! go forth, parse those MX replies, free your data, and be the main character of your own memory management. 💜

this cutie was served up on 4 August 2009, straight from the Library Functions Manual — ARES_PARSE_MX_REPLY(3), periodt. 💅✨