(PHP 4, PHP 5)
posix_getpwnam — Return info about a user by username
$username
   )Returns an array of information about the given user.
usernameAn alphanumeric username.
   On success an array with the following elements is returned, else 
   FALSE is returned:
   
| Element | Description | 
|---|---|
| name | The name element contains the username of the user. This is
        a short, usually less than 16 character "handle" of the
        user, not the real, full name. This should be the same as
        the usernameparameter used when
        calling the function, and hence redundant. | 
| passwd | The passwd element contains the user's password in an encrypted format. Often, for example on a system employing "shadow" passwords, an asterisk is returned instead. | 
| uid | User ID of the user in numeric form. | 
| gid | The group ID of the user. Use the function posix_getgrgid() to resolve the group name and a list of its members. | 
| gecos | GECOS is an obsolete term that refers to the finger information field on a Honeywell batch processing system. The field, however, lives on, and its contents have been formalized by POSIX. The field contains a comma separated list containing the user's full name, office phone, office number, and home phone number. On most systems, only the user's full name is available. | 
| dir | This element contains the absolute path to the home directory of the user. | 
| shell | The shell element contains the absolute path to the executable of the user's default shell. | 
Example #1 Example use of posix_getpwnam()
<?php
$userinfo = posix_getpwnam("tom");
print_r($userinfo);
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
Array
(
    [name]    => tom
    [passwd]  => x
    [uid]     => 10000
    [gid]     => 42
    [gecos]   => "tom,,,"
    [dir]     => "/home/tom"
    [shell]   => "/bin/bash"
)