pcap_set_tstamp_precision(3)

pcap_set_tstamp_precision3

Set the time stamp precision returned in captures

Usage

#include <pcap/pcap.h>

int pcap_set_tstamp_precision(pcap_t *p, int tstamp_precision);

Overview

pcap_set_tstamp_precision() sets the precision of the time stamp desired for packets captured on the pcap descriptor to the type specified by tstamp_precision. It must be called on a pcap descriptor created by pcap_create(3) that has not yet been activated by pcap_activate(3). Two time stamp precisions are supported, microseconds and nanoseconds. One can use options PCAP_TSTAMP_PRECISION_MICRO and PCAP_TSTAMP_PRECISION_NANO to request desired precision. By default, time stamps are in microseconds.

Return value

pcap_set_tstamp_precision() returns 0 on success if the specified time stamp precision is expected to be supported by the capture device, PCAP_ERROR_TSTAMP_PRECISION_NOTSUP if the capture device does not support the requested time stamp precision, PCAP_ERROR_ACTIVATED if called on a capture handle that has been activated.

Backward compatibility

This function became available in libpcap release 1.5.1. In previous releases, time stamps from a capture device or savefile are always given in seconds and microseconds.

Releases

25 releases since FreeBSD 11.0-RELEASE; the text changed 7 times.

  1. 11.0–11.2
  2. 11.3
  3. 11.4
  4. 12.0–12.1
  5. 12.2–13.4
  6. 13.5
  7. 14.0–14.1
  8. 14.2–16.0

From base 16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79 in FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27). Parsed by carta from the page's man source.