official-network-name network-number aliases
Items are separated by any number of blanks and/or tab characters. A ``#'' indicates the beginning of a comment; characters up to the end of the line are not interpreted by routines which search the file. This file is normally created from the official network data base maintained at the Network Information Control Center (NIC), though local changes may be required to bring it up to date regarding unofficial aliases and/or unknown networks.
Network number may be specified in the conventional ``.'' (dot) notation or as a 32 bit integer. Numbers may be specified in decimal (default), octal or hexadecimal. A number is interpreted as octal if it starts with the digit "0". A hexadecimal number must begin with "0x" or "0X." Network names may contain any printable character other than a field delimiter, newline, or comment character.