PCAP_STATS(3)          FreeBSD Library Functions Manual          PCAP_STATS(3)

NAME

     pcap_stats - get capture statistics

SYNOPSIS

     #include <pcap/pcap.h>

     int pcap_stats(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_stat *ps);

DESCRIPTION

     pcap_stats() fills in the struct pcap_stat pointed to by its second
     argument.  The values represent packet statistics from the start of the
     run to the time of the call.

     pcap_stats() is supported only on live captures, not on ``savefiles''; no
     statistics are stored in ``savefiles'', so no statistics are available
     when reading from a ``savefile''.

     A struct pcap_stat has the following members:

            ps_recv
                   number of packets received;

            ps_drop
                   number of packets dropped because there was no room in the
                   operating system's buffer when they arrived, because
                   packets weren't being read fast enough;

            ps_ifdrop
                   number of packets dropped by the network interface or its
                   driver.

     The statistics do not behave the same way on all platforms.  ps_recv
     might count packets whether they passed any filter set with
     pcap_setfilter(3) or not, or it might count only packets that pass the
     filter.  It also might, or might not, count packets dropped because there
     was no room in the operating system's buffer when they arrived.  ps_drop
     is not available on all platforms; it is zero on platforms where it's not
     available.  If packet filtering is done in libpcap, rather than in the
     operating system, it would count packets that don't pass the filter.
     Both ps_recv and ps_drop might, or might not, count packets not yet read
     from the operating system and thus not yet seen by the application.
     ps_ifdrop might, or might not, be implemented; if it's zero, that might
     mean that no packets were dropped by the interface, or it might mean that
     the statistic is unavailable, so it should not be treated as an
     indication that the interface did not drop any packets.

RETURN VALUE

     pcap_stats() returns 0 on success, PCAP_ERROR_NOT_ACTIVATED if called on
     a capture handle that has been created but not activated, or PCAP_ERROR
     if there is another error or if p doesn't support packet statistics. If
     PCAP_ERROR is returned, pcap_geterr(3) or pcap_perror(3) may be called
     with p as an argument to fetch or display the error text.

SEE ALSO

     pcap(3)

                                 5 March 2022                    PCAP_STATS(3)