getent, getcap —
get entries from administrative databases
  
    | getent | database [key ...] | 
  
    | getcap | database [key ...] | 
The getent program retrieves and displays entries from
  the administrative database specified by database, using
  the lookup order specified in
  nsswitch.conf(5). The
  display format for a given database is as per the
  “traditional” file format for that database.
database may be one of:
  
    | Database | Display format | 
  
    | disktab | entry | 
  
    | ethers | address name | 
  
    | gettytab | entry | 
  
    | group | group:passwd:gid:[member[,member]...] | 
  
    | hosts | address name [alias ...] | 
  
    | netgroup | (host,user,domain) [...] | 
  
    | networks | name network [alias ...] | 
  
    | passwd | user:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:home_dir:shell | 
  
    | printcap | entry | 
  
    | protocols | name protocol [alias ...] | 
  
    | rpc | name number [alias ...] | 
  
    | services | name port/protocol [alias ...] | 
  
    | shells | /path/to/shell | 
If one or more key arguments are provided,
    they will be looked up in database using the
    appropriate function. For example, passwd supports a
    numeric UID or user name; hosts supports an IPv4 address,
    IPv6 address, or host name; and services supports a
    service name, service name/protocol name, numeric port, or numeric
    port/protocol name.
If no key is provided and
    database supports enumeration, all entries for
    database will be retrieved using the appropriate
    enumeration function and printed.
For cgetcap(3)
    style databases (disktab, printcap)
    specifying a key, lists the entry for that key, and specifying more
    arguments after the key are used as fields in that key, and only the values
    of the keys are returned. For boolean keys true is
    returned if the key is found. If a key is not found, then
    false is always returned.
getent exits 0 on success, 1 if there was an error in
  the command syntax, 2 if one of the specified key names was not found in
  database, or 3 if there is no support for enumeration on
  database.
cgetcap(3),
  disktab(5),
  ethers(5),
  gettytab(5),
  group(5),
  hosts(5),
  networks(5),
  nsswitch.conf(5),
  passwd(5),
  printcap(5),
  protocols(5),
  rpc(5),
  services(5),
  shells(5)
A getent command appeared in NetBSD
  3.0. It was based on the command of the same name in Solaris and Linux.