Internet DRAFT - draft-ietf-wnils-whois-arch
draft-ietf-wnils-whois-arch
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Network Working Group Peter Deutsch
INTERNET-DRAFT BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
<draft-ietf-wnils-whois-arch-02.txt> Rickard Schoultz
Expires: 25 July 95 KTHNOC
Patrik Faltstrom
BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
Chris Weider
BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
25 January 1995
Architecture of the WHOIS++ service
STATUS OF THIS MEMO
This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working
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Abstract
This document describes WHOIS++, an extension to the trivial WHOIS
service described in RFC 954 to permit WHOIS-like servers to make
available more structured information to the Internet. We describe
an extension to the simple WHOIS data model and query protocol and
a companion extensible, distributed indexing service. A number of
options have also been added such as the use of multiple languages
and character sets, more advanced search expressions, structured
data and a number of other useful features. An optional authenti-
cation mechanism for protecting all or part of the associated
WHOIS++ information database from unauthorized access is also
described.
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Table of contents
Part I - WHOIS++ Overview
1.1. Purpose and Motivation....................................... 2
1.2. Basic Information Model...................................... 3
1.2.1. Changes to the current WHOIS Model......................... 3
1.2.2. Registering WHOIS++ servers................................ 4
1.2.3. The WHOIS++ Search Selection Mechanism..................... 5
1.2.4. The WHOIS++ Architecture................................... 6
1.3. Indexing in WHOIS++.......................................... 6
1.4. Getting Help................................................. 7
1.4.1. Minimum HELP Required...................................... 8
1.5. Options and Constraints...................................... 8
1.6. Formatting Responses......................................... 8
1.7. Reporting Warnings and Errors................................ 9
1.8. Privacy and Security Issues.................................. 9
Part II - WHOIS++ Implementation
2.1. Introduction................................................. 11
2.1.1. The WHOIS++ interaction model.............................. 11
2.2. The WHOIS++ Command set...................................... 12
2.2.1. System Commands............................................ 12
2.2.1.1. The COMMANDS command..................................... 13
2.2.1.2. The CONSTRAINTS command.................................. 13
2.2.1.3. The DESCRIBE command..................................... 14
2.2.1.4. The HELP command......................................... 14
2.2.1.5. The LIST command......................................... 14
2.2.1.6. The POLLED-BY command.................................... 14
2.2.1.7. The POLLED-FOR command................................... 15
2.2.1.8. The SHOW command......................................... 15
2.2.1.9. The VERSION command...................................... 15
2.2.2. The Search Command......................................... 15
2.2.2.1. Format of a Search Term.................................. 16
2.2.2.2. Format of a Search String................................ 17
2.3. WHOIS++ Constraints.......................................... 18
2.3.1. Required Constraints....................................... 18
2.3.2. Optional Constraints....................................... 19
2.3.2.1. The SEARCH Constraint.................................... 20
2.3.2.2. The FORMAT Constraint.................................... 21
2.3.2.3. The MAXFULL Constraint................................... 21
2.3.2.4. The MAXHITS Constraint................................... 21
2.3.2.5. The CASE Constraint...................................... 21
2.3.2.6. The AUTHENTICATE Constraint.............................. 21
2.3.2.7. The NAME Constraint...................................... 22
2.3.2.8. The PASSWORD Constraint.................................. 22
2.3.2.9. The LANGUAGE Constraint.................................. 22
2.3.2.10. The INCHARSET Constraint................................ 22
2.3.2.11. The IGNORE Constraint................................... 23
2.3.2.12. The INCLUDE Constraint.................................. 23
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2.4. Server Response Modes........................................ 23
2.4.1. Default Responses.......................................... 24
2.4.2. Format of Responses........................................ 24
2.4.3. Syntax of a Formatted Response............................. 24
2.4.3.1. A FULL format response................................... 25
2.4.3.2. ABRIDGED Format Response................................. 26
2.4.3.3. HANDLE Format Response................................... 26
2.4.3.4. SUMMARY Format Response.................................. 27
2.4.3.5. SERVERS-TO-ASK Response.................................. 27
2.4.4. System Generated Messages.................................. 28
2.5. Compatibility with Older WHOIS Servers....................... 28
3. Miscellaneous.................................................. 28
3.1. Acknowledgements............................................. 28
3.2. Contact information.......................................... 29
Appendix A - Some Sample Queries................................... 30
Appendix B - Some sample responses................................. 31
Appendix C - Sample responses to system commands................... 33
Appendix D - Sample whois++ session................................ 35
Appendix E - System messages....................................... 37
Appendix F - The WHOIS++ BNF Grammar............................... 39
Appendix G - Description of Regular expressions.................... 41
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1.
Part I - WHOIS++ Overview
1.1. Purpose and Motivation
The current NIC WHOIS service [HARR85] is used to provide a very
limited directory service, serving information about a small number
of Internet users registered with the DDN NIC. Over time the basic
service has been expanded to serve additional information and simi-
lar services have also been set up on other hosts. Unfortunately,
these additions and extensions have been done in an ad hoc and
uncoordinated manner.
The basic WHOIS information model represents each individual record
as a Rolodex-like collection of text. Each record has a unique
identifier (or handle), but otherwise is assumed to have little
structure. The current service allows users to issue searches for
individual strings within individual records, as well as searches
for individual record handles using a very simple query-response
protocol.
Despite its utility, the current NIC WHOIS service cannot function
as a general White Pages service for the entire Internet. Given the
inability of a single server to offer guaranteed response or relia-
bility, the huge volume of traffic that a full scale directory ser-
vice will generate and the potentially huge number of users of such
a service, such a trivial architecture is obviously unsuitable for
the current Internet's needs for information services.
This document describes the architecture and protocol for WHOIS++,
a simple, distributed and extensible information lookup service
based upon a small set of extensions to the original WHOIS informa-
tion model. These extensions allow the new service to address the
community's needs for a simple directory service, yet the extensi-
ble architecture is expected to also allow it to find application
in a number of other information service areas.
Added features include an extension to the trivial WHOIS data model
and query protocol and a companion extensible, distributed indexing
service. A number of other options have also been added, like
boolean operators, more powerful search constraints and search
methods and most specificly structured the data to make both the
client and the server part of the dialogue more stringent and
parseable. An optional authentication mechanism for protecting all
or parts of the associated WHOIS++ information database from unau-
thorized access is also briefly described.
The basic architecture of WHOIS++ allows distributed maintenance of
the directory contents and the use of the WHOIS++ indexing service
for locating additional WHOIS servers. Although a general overview
of this service is included for completeness, the indexing exten-
sions are described in a separate paper.
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1.2. Basic Information Model
Our extensions to the existing WHOIS service are centered upon a
recommendation to structure user information around a series of
standardized information templates, such as to those described by
[IAFA1]. Such templates consist of ordered sets of data elements
(or attribute-value pairs) and a number of groups at the IETF are
now working on standardizing their format and content [IAFA],
[NIR].
It is intended that adding such structured templates to a server
and subsequently identifying and searching them be simple tasks.
The creation and use of customized templates should also be possi-
ble with little effort, although their use should be discouraged
where appropriate standardized templates exist.
We also offer a set of extensions to the trivial protocol described
in RFC954 [HARR85] to allow the user to constrain searches to
desired attributes or template types, in addition to the existing
commands for specifying handles or simple strings.
It is expected that the minimalist approach we have taken will find
application where the high cost of configuring and operating tradi-
tional White Pages services can not currently be justified.
Also note that the new architecture makes no assumptions about the
search and retrieval mechanisms used within individual servers.
Operators are free to use dedicated database formats, fast indexing
software or even provide gateways to other directory services to
store and retrieve information, if desired.
The WHOIS++ server simply functions as a known front end, offering
a simple data model and communicating through a well known port and
query protocol. The format of both queries and replies has been
structured to allow the use of client software for generating
searches and displaying the results. At the same time, some effort
has been made to keep responses at least to some degree readible by
humans, to ensure low entry cost and to ease debugging.
The actual implemention details of of an individual WHOIS search
engine are left to the imagination of the implementor and it is
hoped that the simple, extensible approach taken will encourage
experimentation and the development of improved search engines.
1.2.1. Changes to the current WHOIS Model
The current WHOIS service is based upon an extremely simple data
model. The NIC WHOIS database consists of a series of individual
records, each of which is identified by a single unique identifer
(the "handle"). Each record contains one or more lines of informa-
tion. Currently, there is no structure or implicit ordering of this
information, although by implication each record is concerned with
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information about a single user or service.
We have implemented two basic changes to this model. First, we have
structured the information within the database as collections of
data elements, or simple attribute/value pairs. Each individual
record contains a specified ordered set of these data elements.
Secondly, we have introduced typing of the database records. In
effect, each record is based upon one of a specified set of tem-
plates, each containing a finite and specified number of data ele-
ments. This allow users to easily limit searches to specific col-
lections of information, such as information about users, services,
abstracts of papers, descriptions of software, and so on.
As a final extension, we require that each individual WHOIS++ data-
base on the Internet be assigned a unique handle, analogous to the
handle associated with each database record.
The WHOIS++ database structure is shown in Fig. 1.
1.2.2. Registering WHOIS++ servers
We propose that individual database handles be registered through
the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (the IANA), ensuring their
uniqueness. This will allow us to specify each WHOIS++ entry on the
Internet as a server handle and a unique record handle pair. This
pair is called the ``composed handle''.
A unique registered handle is preferable to using the host's IP
address, since it is conceivable that the WHOIS++ server for a par-
ticular domain may move over time. If we preserve the unique
WHOIS++ handle in such cases we have the option of using it for
resource discovery and networked information retrieval (see [IIIR]
for a discussion of resource and discovery and support issues).
There are many ways of guaranteeing uniqueness of server handles;
we will discuss them in a separate paper.
We believe that organizing information around a series of such tem-
plates will make it easier for administrators to gather and main-
tain this information and thus encourage them to make such informa-
tion available. At the same time, as users become more familiar
with the data elements available within specific templates they
will be better able to specify their searches, leading to a more
useful service.
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______________________________________________________________________
| |
| + Single unique WHOIS++ database handle |
| |
| _______ _______ _______ |
| handle3 |.. .. | handle6 |.. .. | handle9 |.. .. | |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | |
| handle2 |.. .. | handle5 |.. .. | handle8 |.. .. | |
| _______ | _______ | _______ | |
| handle1 |.. .. | handle4 |.. .. | handle7 |.. .. | |
| |.. .. | |.. .. | |.. .. | |
| ------- ------- ------- |
| Template Template Template |
| Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Fig.1 - Structure of a WHOIS++ database. |
| |
| Notes: - Entire database is identified by a single unique WHOIS |
| handle. |
| - Each record has a single unique handle and a specific set |
| of attributes, determined by the template type used. |
| - Each value associated with an attribute can be any ASCII |
| string up to a specified length. |
|______________________________________________________________________|
1.2.3. The WHOIS++ Search Selection Mechanism
The WHOIS++ search mechanism is intended to be extremely simple. A
search command consists of one or more search terms, with an
optional nvset of global constraints (specifiers that modify or
control a search).
Search terms allow the user to specify template type, attribute,
value or handle that any record returns must satisfy. Each search
term can have an optional set of local constraints that apply to
only that term.
A WHOIS++ database may be seen as a single rolodex-like collection
of typed records. Each term specifies a further constraint that
the selected set of output records must satisfy. Each term may thus
be thought of as performing a subtractive selection, in the sense
that any record that does not fulfill the term is discarded from
the result set. Boolean searches are possible by the use of AND,
OR, NOT and parenthesis.
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1.2.4. The WHOIS++ Architecture
The WHOIS++ directory service has an architecture which is
separated into two components; the base level server, which is
described in this paper, and a indexing server. A single physical
server can act as both a base level server and an indexing server.
A base level server is one which contains only filled templates. An
indexing server is one which contains forward knowledge (q.v.) and
pointers to other indexing servers or base level servers.
1.3. Indexing in WHOIS++
Indexing in WHOIS++ is used to tie together many base level servers
and index servers into a unified directory service.
Each base level server and index server which wishes to participate
in the unified directory service must generate "forward knowledge"
for the entries it contains. One type of forward knowledge is the
"centroid".
An example of a centroid is as follows: if a whois++ server con-
tained exactly three records, as follows:
Record 1 Record 2
Template: Person Template: Person
First-Name: John First-Name: Joe
Last-Name: Smith Last-Name: Smith
Favourite-Drink: Labatt Beer Favourite-Drink: Molson Beer
Record 3
Template: Domain
Domain-Name: foo.edu
Contact-Name: Mike Foobar
the centroid for this server would be
Template: Person
First-Name: Joe
John
Last-Name: Smith
Favourite-Drink:Beer
Labatt
Molson
Template: Domain
Domain-Name: foo.edu
Contact-Name: Mike
Foobar
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An index server would then collect this centroid for this server as
forward knowledge.
Index servers can collect forward knowledge for any servers it
wishes. In effect, all of the servers that the index server knows
about can be searched with a single query to the index server; the
index server holds the forward knowledge along with pointers to the
servers it indexes, and can refer the query to servers which might
hold information which satisfies the query.
Implementors of this protocol are strongly encouraged to incor-
porate centroid generation abilities into their servers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
____ ____
top level | | | |
whois index | | | |
servers ---- ----
____ ____
first level | | | |
whois index | | | |
servers ---- ----
____ ____ ____
individual | | | | | |
whois servers | | | | | |
---- ---- ----
Fig. 2 - Indexing system architecture.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4. Getting Help
Another extension to the basic WHOIS service is the requirement
that all servers support at least a minimal set of help commands,
allowing users to find out information about both the individual
server and the entire WHOIS++ service itself. This is done in the
context of the new extended information model by defining two
specific template formats and requiring each server to offer at
least one example of each record using these formats. The operator
of each WHOIS service is therefor expected to have, as a minimum, a
single example of SERVICES and HELP records, which can be accessed
through appropriate commands.
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1.4.1. Minimum HELP Required
Executing the command:
DESCRIBE
gives a brief information about the WHOIS++ server.
Executing the command:
HELP
gives a brief description of the WHOIS++ service itself.
The text of both required helped records should contain pointers to
additional help subjects that are available.
Executing the command:
HELP <searchstring>
may give information on any topic.
1.5. Options and Constraints
The WHOIS++ service is based upon a minimal core set of commands
and controlling constraints. A small set of additional optional
commands and constraints can be supported. These would allow users
to perform such tasks as provide security options, modify the
information contents of a server or add multilingual support. The
required set of WHOIS++ commands are summarized in section 2.2.
WHOIS++ constraints are described in section 2.4. Optional commands
and constraints are described in section 2.5.
1.6. Formatting Responses
The output returned by a WHOIS++ server is structured to allow
machine parsing and automated handling. Of particular interest in
the ability to return summary information about a search (without
having to return the entire results).
All output of searches will be returned in one of five output for-
mats, which will be one of FULL, ABRIDGED, HANDLE, SUMMARY or
SERVERS-TO-ASK. Note that a conforming server is only required to
support the first four formats.
When available, SERVERS-TO-ASK format is used to indicate that a
search cannot be completed but that one or more alternative WHOIS++
servers may be able to perform the search.
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Details of each output format are specified in section 2.5.
1.7. Reporting Warnings and Errors
The formatted response of WHOIS++ commands allows the encoding of
warning or error messages to simplify parsing and machine handling.
The syntax of output formats are described in detail in section
2.5, and details of WHOIS++ warnings and error conditions are given
in section appendix E.
All system messages are numerical, but can be tagged with text. It
is the clients decision if the text is presented to the user.
1.8. Privacy and Security Issues
The basic WHOIS++ service was conceived as a simple, unauthenti-
cated information lookup service, but there are occasions when
authentication mechanisms are required. To handle such cases, an
optional mechanism is provided for authenticating each WHOIS++
transaction.
The current identified authentication mechanism is PASSWORD, which
uses simple password authentication. Any other scheme name used
must begin with the characters "X-" and should thus be regarded as
experimental and non-standard.
Note that the WHOIS++ authentication mechanism does not dictate the
actual authentication scheme used, it merely provides a framework
for indicating that a particular transaction is to be authenti-
cated, and the appropriate mechanisms to use. This mechanism is
extensible and individual implementors are free to add additional
mechanisms.
This document includes a very simple authentication scheme where a
combination of username and password is sent together with the
search string so the server can verify that the user have access to
the information. Note that this is NOT by any means a method recom-
mended to secure the data itself because both password and informa-
tion are tranferred unencrypted over the network.
Given the unauthenticated nature that default services like white
pages services are, it is easy to either forget the implications of
this and just show all data to the public Internet, or think that
Internet is so dangerous that information is hidden from the Inter-
net so the whole idea of a global whitepages service is lost.
Therefore the type of authentication scheme selected and the public
nature of the Internet environment must still be taken into con-
sideration when assessing the security and authentication of the
information served.
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A more detailed exposition on security is outside the scope of this
document.
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2. Part II - WHOIS++ Implementation
2.1. Introduction
The WHOIS++ protocol specifies the interactions between a WHOIS
client and a WHOIS server supporting the WHOIS++ extensions. These
extensions are designed to be backwards compatible with existing
servers, in the sense that a new server receiving any of the older
commands specified in RFC 954 [HARR85] will behave in the same
manner as the original NIC WHOIS server.
Obviously, it is not possible to ensure desired behaviour if one of
the extended commands is sent to an older WHOIS server, since the
requested functionality is simply not there. Still, it would be
possible to query whether the WHOIS++ command set is supported as
an attribute for each WHOIS server in an appropriate services
registry (which itself could be set up using a WHOIS++ server).
Thus, in practice this should not be a problem. In addition, any
such command sent to an older WHOIS server would simply be treated
as a search term, and thus no harm should result.
The small number of older servers, and the probability that at
least some of the older servers will be converted to WHOIS++ as
implementations become available, means that backwards compatibil-
ity is not expected to be a problem in practice.
2.1.1. The WHOIS++ interaction model
A WHOIS++ server will normally listen for a TCP connections on the
allocated WHOIS port (port 43) (although a WHOIS++ server can be
accessed over any TCP connection). Once a connection is esta-
blished, the server issues a banner message, then listens for
input. The command specified in this input is processed and the
results returned including an ending system message. If the
optional HOLD constraint has not been specified the connection is
then terminated.
If the server supports the optional HOLD constraint, and this con-
straint is specified as part of any command, the server continues
to listen on the connection for another line of input. This cycle
continues as long as the sender continues to append the required
HOLD constraint to each subsequent command.
At the same time, each server is permitted to set an optional
timeout value (which should be indicated in the response to the
CONSTRAINTS command). If set, the server is free to terminate an
idle connection at any time after this delay has passed with no
input from the client. If the server terminates the connection due
to timeout, it will be indicated by the system message. The timeout
value is not changeable by the client.
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2.2. The WHOIS++ Command set
There are two types of WHOIS++ commands - system commands and the
WHOIS++ search command.
The WHOIS++ command set consists of a core set of required systems
commands, a single required search command and an set of optional
system commands which support features that are not required by all
servers. The set of required WHOIS++ system commands are listed in
Table I. Details of the allowable search terms for the search com-
mand are included in Table II.
Each WHOIS++ command also allows the use of one or more controlling
constraints, which select can be used to override defaults or oth-
erwise modify server behavior. There is a core set of constraints
that must be supported by all conforming servers. These include
SEARCH (which controls the type of search performed), FORMAT (which
determines the output format used) and MAXHITS (which determines
the maximum number of matches that a a search can return). These
required constraints are summarized in Table III.
An additional set of optional constraints are used to provide sup-
port for different character sets, indicate the need and type of
authentication to perform on a transaction, and permit multiple
transactions during a single communications session. These optional
constraints are listed in Table IV.
It is possible, using the required COMMANDS and CONSTRAINTS system
commands, to query any WHOIS++ server for its list of supported
commands and constraints.
2.2.1. System Commands
System commands are commands to the server for information or to
control its operation. These include commands to list the template
types available from individual servers, to obtain a single blank
template of any available type, and commands to obtain the list of
valid commands and constraints supported on a server.
There are also commands to obtain the current version of the
WHOIS++ protocol supported, to access a simple help subsystem, to
obtain a brief description of the service (which is intended, among
other things, to support the automated registration of the service
by yellow pages directory services). All of these commands are
required from a conforming WHOIS++ server.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Short Long Form Functionality
----- --------- -------------
COMMANDS [ ':' HOLD ] list valid WHOIS++ commands
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supported by this server
CONSTRAINTS [ ':' HOLD ] List valid constraints
supported by this server
DESCRIBE [ ':' HOLD ] Describe this server,
formating the response using
the standard IAFA "Services"
template
'?' HELP [<string> [':' <cnstrnts>]] System help, using standard
IAFA "Help" template
LIST [':' <cnstrnts>] List templates supported
by this system
POLLED-BY [ ':' HOLD ] List indexing servers
that are know to track
this server
POLLED-FOR [ ':' HOLD ] List information about
what this server is
tracking for
SHOW <string> [':' <cnstrnts>] Show contents of templates
specified
VERSION [ ':' HOLD ] return current version of
the protocol supported.
Table I - Required WHOIS++ SYSTEM commands.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below follows a descriptions for each command. Examples of
responses to each command is in Appendix C.
2.2.1.1. The COMMANDS command
The COMMANDS command returns a list of commands that the server
supports. The response is formatted as an ABRIDGED response.
2.2.1.2. The CONSTRAINTS command
The CONSTRAINTS command returns a list of constraints and the
values of those that the server supports. The response is formatted
as a FULL response, where every constraint is represented as a
separate record. The template name for these records is CONSTRAINT.
No attention is paid to handles. Each record has, as a minimum, the
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following two fields:
- "Constraint", which contains the attribute name described -
"Default", which shows the default value for this constraint.
If the client is permitted to change the value of the constraint,
there is also:
- "Range" field, which contains a list of values that this
server supports, as a comma separated list; Or, if the range
is numerical, as a pair of numbers separated with a hyphen.
2.2.1.3. The DESCRIBE command
This is equivalent to issuing the search command on the local
server with only the terms "template=services" and
"subject=describe" and will result in the display of the
corresponding SERVICES template with an attribute of "subject" and
value of "describe", except that the DESCRIBE command only searches
local information and may not return pointers to other servers.
2.2.1.4. The HELP command
The HELP command takes an optional argument as subject to get help
for. This is equivalent to issuing the search command on the local
server only with the terms "template=help and subject=<subject>"
(or "subject=help" if no argument specified) and will result in the
display of the corresponding HELP template with subject "help".
The HELP command differs from the above search command in that the
HELP command only searches local information and may not return
pointers to other servers.
2.2.1.5. The LIST command
The LIST command returns the name of the templates available on the
server. The answer is in ABRIDGED format with the template name as
the first word on each line.
2.2.1.6. The POLLED-BY command
The POLLED-BY command returns a list of servers and the templates
and attribute names that those server polled as centroids from this
server. The format is in FULL format with two attributes, Template
and Field. Each of these is a list of names of the templates or
fields polled.
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2.2.1.7. The POLLED-FOR command
The POLLED-FOR command returns a list of servers that this server
has polled, and the template and attribute names for each of those.
The answer is in FULL format with two attributes, Template and
Field.
2.2.1.8. The SHOW command
The SHOW command takes a template name as argument and returns
information about a specific template, formatted as a FULL
response. The answer is formatted as a blank template with the
requested name.
2.2.1.9. The VERSION command
This is equivalent to issuing the search command on the local
server only with the terms "template=version" and will result in
the display of the VERSION template, except that the VERSION com-
mand only searches local information and may not return pointers to
other servers.
The output format is a FULL response containg a record with tem-
plate name VERSION. The handle for this record is unspecified. The
record must have attribute name "Version", which value is "1.0" for
this version of the protocol. The record may also have the addi-
tional fields "Program-Name" and "Program-Version" which gives
information about the server implementation if the server so
desires.
2.2.2. The Search Command
A search command consists of one or more search terms, which might
each have local constraints, followed by an optional colon with a
set of global search constraints.
Each attribute value in the WHOIS++ database is divided into one or
more words separated by whitespace. Each search term operates on
every word in the attribute value.
Two or more search terms may be combined with boolean operators
AND, OR or NOT (other than the implied AND between terms). The
operator AND has higher precedence than the operator OR, but this
can be changed by the use of parentheses.
Search constraints that apply to every search term are specified as
global constraints. Local constraints override global constraints
for the search term they are bound to. The search terms and the
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global constraints are separated with a colon (':'). Additional
global constraints are appended to the end of the search command
delimited with a semicolon ';'.
If different search constraints can not be fulfilled, or the combi-
nation of different search constraints is uncombinable, the server
may choose to ignore some constraints, but still do the search and
return some records.
The set of required constraints are summarized in Table III. The
set of optional constraints are summarized in Table IV.
As an option, the server may accept specifications for attributes
for either inclusion or exclusion from a reply. Thus, users could
specify _only_ those attributes to return, or specific attributes
to filter out, thus creating custom views.
2.2.2.1. Format of a Search Term
Each search term consists of one of the following:
1) A search string, followed by an optional comma and set of
comma-separated local constraints.
2) A search term specifier (as listed in Table II), followed by '=',
followed by a search string, an optional comma and a set of
comma-separate local constraints.
3) An abbreviated search term specifier, followed by a search
string, followed by an optional comma and set of comma-separate
local constraints.
4) A combination of attribute name, followed by '=', followed by a
search string, followed by an optional comma and set of
comma-separate local constraints.
If no term identifier is provided, then the search will be applied
to attribute values only. This corresponds to an identifier of
VALUE.
If a HANDLE specifier is used then the search term can specify
either a composed handle or a record handle. The server is respon-
sible for resolving the composed handle to a server handle and a
record handle.
If a SEARCH-ALL specifier is used then the search will be applied
to all template names, handles, attribute names and attribute
values.
When the user specifies the search term using the form:
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"<attribute_name> = <value>"
this is considered to be an ATTRIBUTE-VALUE search.
For discussion of the system reply format, and selecting the
appropriate reply format, see section 2.5.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Valid specifiers:
-----------------
Name Functionality
---- -------------
ATTRIBUTE-VALUE [ ',' <constrnt>]* allows combining attribute and
value specifiers in one term.
HANDLE [ ',' <constrnt>]* Confine search to handles.
SEARCH-ALL [ ',' <constrnt>]* Search everything.
TEMPLATE [ ',' <constrnt>]* Confine search to template names.
VALUE [ ',' <constrnt>]* Confine search to attribute
values. This is the default.
(Note: The name HANDLE can be replaced with the shortname '!')
Acceptable forms of a search specifier:
---------------------------------------
1) <searchstring> [',' <constraint>]*
2) <specifier> = <searchstring> [',' <constraint>]*
3) <shortspecifier> <searchstring> [',' <constraint>]*
4) <attribute_name> = <searchstring> [',' <constraint>]*
(Note: A <constraint> is a name of a valid local constraint.)
Table II - Valid search command term specifiers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2.2.2. Format of a Search String
Special characters that need to be quoted are preceeded by a
backslash, '\'.
Special characters are space ' ', tab, equal sign '=', comma ',',
colon ':', backslash '\', semicolon ';', asterisk '*', period '.',
parenthesis '()', square brackets '[]', dollar sign '$' and circum-
flex '^'.
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If the search term is given in some other character set than ISO-
8859-1, it must be specified by the constraint INCHARSET.
2.3. WHOIS++ Constraints
Constraints are intended to be hints or recommendations to the
server about how to process a command. They may also be used to
override default behaviour, such as requesting that a server not
drop the connection after performing a command.
Thus, a user might specify a search constraint as "SEARCH=exact",
which means that the search engine is to perform an exact match
search. It might also specify "LANGUAGE=Fr", which implies that the
server should use French in fuzzy matches. It might also be able to
issue system messages in French.
In general, contraints take the form "<constraintname>=<value>",
with <value> being one of a specified set of valid values. The not-
able exception is "HOLD", which takes no argument.
All constraints can be used as a global constraint, but only a few
can be used as local. See tables IV and V for information of which
constraints can be local.
The CONSTRAINTS system command is used to list the search con-
straints supported by an individual server.
If a server cannot satisfy the specified constraint there will be a
mechanism for informing the user in the reply, using system mes-
sages. In such cases, the search is still performed, with the the
server ignoring unsupported constraints.
2.3.1. Required Constraints
The following CONSTRAINTS must be supported in all conforming
WHOIS++ servers.
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------------------------------------------------------------------
Format LOCAL/GLOBAL
------ -------------
SEARCH= {exact | lstring } LOCAL/GLOBAL
FORMAT= {full | abridged | handle | summary } GLOBAL
MAXHITS= { 1-<max-allowed> } GLOBAL
Table III - Required WHOIS++ constraints.
------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3.2. Optional CONSTRAINTS
The following CONSTRAINTS and constraint values are not required of
a conforming WHOIS++ server, but may be supported. If supported,
their names and supported values must be returned in the response
to the CONSTRAINTS command.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
Format LOCAL/GLOBAL
------ -------------
SEARCH= { regex | fuzzy | substring | <X-format> } LOCAL/GLOBAL
CASE= { ignore | consider } LOCAL/GLOBAL
FORMAT= { servers-to-ask | <X-format> } GLOBAL
MAXFULL= { 1-<max-allowed> } GLOBAL
AUTHENTICATE= password GLOBAL
NAME= <string> GLOBAL
PASSWORD= <string> GLOBAL
INCHARSET= { us-ascii | iso-8859-* } GLOBAL
LANGUAGE= <As defined in ISO 639:1988> GLOBAL
HOLD GLOBAL
IGNORE= {attributelist} GLOBAL
INCLUDE= {attributelist} GLOBAL
Table IV - Optional WHOIS++ constraints.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3.2.1. The SEARCH Constraint
The SEARCH constraint is used for specifying the method that is to
be used for the search. The default method is "exact". Following is
a definition of each search method.
exact The search will succeed for a word that exactly
matches the search string.
substring The search will succeed for a word that matches
a part of a word.
regex The search will succeed for a word when a regular
expression matches the searched data. Regular
expression is built up by using constructions of
'*', '.', '^', '$', and '[]'. For use of
regular expressions see Appendix G.
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fuzzy The search will succeed for words that matches the
search string by using an algorithm designed to catch
closely related names with different spelling, e.g.
names with the same pronounciation. The server
chooses which algorithm to use, but it may vary
depending on template name, attribute name and
language used (see Constraint Language above).
lstring The search will succed for words that begins
with the search string.
2.3.2.2. The FORMAT Constraint
The FORMAT constraint describes what format the result will be in.
Default format is FULL. For a description of each format, see
Server Response Modes below.
2.3.2.3. The MAXFULL Constraint
The MAXFULL constraint sets the limit of the number of matching
records the server allows before it enforces SUMMARY responses.
The client may attempt to override this value by specifying another
value to that constraint. Example: If, for privacy reasons, the
server will return the response in SUMMARY format if the number of
hits exceeds 2, the MAXFULL constraint is set to 2 by the server.
Regardless of what format the client did or did not ask for, the
server will change the response format to SUMMARY when the number
of matching records equals or exceeds this value.
2.3.2.4. The MAXHITS Constraint
The MAXHITS constraint sets the maximum number of records the
client can get in a search respone.
2.3.2.5. The CASE Constraint
The CASE constraint defines if the search should be done case sen-
sistive or not. Default value is to have case ignored.
2.3.2.6. The AUTHENTICATE Constraint
The AUTHENTICATE constraint describes which authentication method
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to use when executing the search. By using a specific authentica-
tion method, some other constraints might be needed which is speci-
fied by the authentication method.
The only authentication method described in this document is "pass-
word", if used, also the two other constraints "name" and "pass-
word" need to be set.
2.3.2.7. The NAME Constraint
The NAME constraint is only used together with some authentication
method named by the constraint "authenticate". The only use
described in this document is by sending a username as a string of
characters which together with the string given as an argument to
the "password" constraint is sent to the server. The server can use
that pair of strings to do a simple authentication check, like the
UNIX login program do.
2.3.2.8. The PASSWORD Constraint
The PASSWORD constraint is only used together with some authentica-
tion method named by the constraint "authenticate". The only use
described in this document is by sending a password as a string of
characters which together with the string given as an argument to
the "name" constraint is sent to the server. The server can use
that pair of strings to do a simple authentication check, like the
UNIX login program do.
2.3.2.9. The LANGUAGE Constraint
The LANGUAGE constraints can be used as an extra information to the
fuzzy matching search method, and it might also be used to tell the
server to give the system responses in another language, although
this ability should be handled by the client. The two-letter
language code defined in ISO 639:1988 can be used as a value for
the language constraint. In these, the case of the letters are
insignigicant. Other language codes shall be interpreted according
to the Internet standard for language codes in RFC 822/MIME mes-
sages, if and when such a standard is adopted.
2.3.2.10. The INCHARSET Constraint
The INCHARSET constraint tells the server in which character set
the search string itself is given in. The default character set is
"ISO-8859-1".
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2.3.2.11. The IGNORE Constraint
The IGNORE constraint specifies which attributes to NOT include in
the result. All other attributes will be included (as if named
explicitly by the "include" constraint).
If an attribute is named both with the "include" and "ignore" con-
straint, the attribute is to be included in the result, but the
system message must be "% 205 Requested constraint not fulfilled".
2.3.2.12. The INCLUDE Constraint
The INCLUDE constraint specifies which attributes to include in the
result. All other attributes will be excluded (as if named expli-
citly by the "ignore" constraint).
If an attribute is named both with the "include" and "ignore" con-
straint, the attribute is to be included in the result, but the
system message must be "% 205 Requested constraint not fulfilled".
2.4. Server Response Modes
There are currently a total of five different response modes possi-
ble for WHOIS++ servers. These are FULL, ABRIDGED, HANDLE, SUMMARY
and SERVERS-TO-ASK. The syntax of each output format is specified
in more detail in the following section.
1) A FULL format response provides the complete contents of each
template matching the specified query, including the template
type and the composed handle for each record.
2) An ABRIDGED format response provides a brief summary, including
(as a minimum) the composed handle and relevant information for
that template.
3) A HANDLE format response returns only a list of handles that
matched the specified query.
4) A SUMMARY response provides only a brief summary of information
the number of matches and the list of template types in which the
matches occured.
5) A SERVERS-TO-ASK response returns only a pointer to another
WHOIS++ server, which might possibly be able to answer the
specified query.
The server may respond with a null answer and may also respond with
a null answer together with a correct system message to indicate
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that the query was too complex.
2.4.1. Default Responses
By default, a WHOIS++ server will provide a FULL response. This may
be changed by the client with the use of the global constraint
"format".
The server is allowed to provide response in SUMMARY format if the
number of hits exceeds the value of the global constraint "max-
full".
The server will not respond with more matches than the value speci-
fied with the global constraint "maxhits"; Not in any response for-
mat. If the number of matches exceeds this value, the server will
issues the system message 110 (maxhits value exceeded), but will
still show the responses, up to the number of the "maxhits" con-
straint value. This mechanism will allow the server to hide the
number of possible matches to a search command.
The server response modes are summarized in Table V.
2.4.2. Format of Responses
Each response consists of a numerical system generated message,
which can be tagged with text, followed by an optional formatted
response message, followed by a second system generated messages.
That is:
'%' <system messages> <nl>
[ <formatted response> ]
'%' <system messages> <nl>
If there are no matches to a query, the system is not required to
generate any output as a formatted response, although it must still
generate system messages.
For information about the format for system messages, see Appendix
E.
2.4.3. Syntax of a Formatted Response
All formatted responses consist of a START line, followed by a
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response-specific section, followed by a TERMINATION line. It is
permissible to insert any number of lines consisting solely of new-
lines within a formatted response to improve readibility.
A START line consists of a line beginning with a '#' in the first
column, followed by one white space character (SPACE or TAB), fol-
lowed by one of the following keywords FULL, ABRIDGED, HANDLE, SUM-
MARY or SERVERS-TO-ASK.
A START line must contain no more than 81 characters, including the
terminating newline character.
A TERMINATION line consists of a line beginning with a '#' in the
first column, followed by one white space character (SPACE or TAB),
followed by the keyword END, followed by zero or more characters,
followed by a newline.
A TERMINATION line must contain no more than 81 characters, includ-
ing the terminating newline character.
A response-specific section will be one of the following:
1) FULL Format Response
2) ABRIDGED Format Response
3) HANDLE Format Response
4) SUMMARY Format Response
5) SERVERS-TO-ASK Format Response
The details of each are specified in the following sections:
2.4.3.1. A FULL format response
A FULL format response consists of a series of responses, each con-
sisting of a FORMAT specifier line, followed by the complete tem-
plate information for the matching record.
Each FORMAT specifier line consists of a '#' in the first column,
followed by one white space character, the name of the correspond-
ing template type, one white space character, the serverhandle, a
colon, the handle for that record, and a terminating newline.
The template information for each record will be returned as a
series of lines consisting of a single space, followed by the
corresponding line of the record.
The line of the record shall consist of a single space and the
attribute name, followed by a ':', a single space, the value of
that attribute, and a newline.
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Each such line shall be limited to no more than 81 characters,
including the terminating newline. If a line (including the
required leading single space) would exceed 81 characters, it is to
be broken into lines of no more than 81 characters, with each con-
tinuation line beginning with a "+" character in the first column,
instead of the leading space.
If the attribute value includes a line break, the line break must
be replaced by a CR/LF pair and the following line begin with a "-"
character in the first column, instead of the space character. The
attribute name is not repeated on consecutive lines.
2.4.3.2. ABRIDGED Format Response
An ABRIDGED format response consists of a single set of responses,
consisting of a single line excerpt of the template information
from each matching record. The excerpt information shall include,
as a minimum, the composed handle of the record, as well as other
information that is relevant to the template type.
The abridged template information for each record will be returned
as a series of lines, each of which must consist of a single space,
followed by the abridged line of the record, one or more space
characters, the composed handle, and a CR/LF pair.
Each line shall be limited to no more than 81 characters, including
the terminating newline. If a line (including the required single
space, would exceed 81 characters, it is to be broken into lines of
no more than 81 characters, with the remainder following on the
subsequent line, with the space replaced by a "+" character in the
first column.
If the attribute value includes a line break, the line break must
be replaced by a CR/LF pair and the following line begin with a "-"
character in the first column, instead of the space character. The
attribute name is not repeated on consecutive lines.
2.4.3.3. HANDLE Format Response
A HANDLE format response consists of a single set of responses,
consisting of a single line listing the composed handle and tem-
plate type for each matching record.
Each line shall start with one space, followed by the server han-
dle, a colon, the record handle, one or more whitespace characters,
the template type and terminated by a newline.
Each such line must contain no more than 81 characters, including
the terminating newline character. If a line (including the
required first space) would exceed 81 characters, it shall be split
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into multiple lines, with each continuation line beginning with a
'+' instead of a space.
2.4.3.4. SUMMARY Format Response
A SUMMARY format response consists of a single set of responses,
consisting of a line listing the number of matches to the specified
query, followed by a list of all template types which satisfied the
query at least once.
The first line shall begin with the string "matches: ", be followed
by a space and the number of responses to the query and terminated
by a newline. The second line shall begin with the string "tem-
plates: ", be followed by a newline separated list of the name of
the template types which matched the query. Each line following the
first which include the text "templates:" must begin with a '-'
instead of a space.
If the line is longer than 81 characters including the terminating
CR/LF pair, it shall be split into multiple lines with each con-
tinuation line beginning with a '+' instead of a space.
2.4.3.5. SERVERS-TO-ASK Response
A SERVERS-TO-ASK response consists of information to the client
about which servers to contact next to resolve a query.
The servers-to-ask response will consist of a number of attribute-
value pairs, separated by CRLF. Each line is indented with one
space.
Required attributes are "Version-number", which will be "1.0", and
"Next-Servers".
The "Next-Servers" field will be returned as a series of lines,
each holding pointer information to one server. Consecutive lines
shall have a hyphen "-" in the first column. Each line will be
separated into five fields, separated with a semicolon. Those
fields are:
1. The server handle of the server pointed at. (required)
2. A cached host named for the server pointed at. (optional)
3. A cached port number for the server pointed at. (optional)
Each such line shall be limited to no more than 81 characters,
including the terminating newline. If a line (including the
required leading single space) would exceed 81 characters, it is to
be broken into lines of no more than 81 characters, with each con-
tinuation line beginning with a "+" character in the first column.
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2.4.4. System Generated Messages
All system generated messages must begin with a '%' as the first
character, a space as the second one, followed by a three digit
number, a space and an optional text message. The total length of
the line must be no more than 81 characters long, including the
terminating CR LF pair. There is no limit to the number of system
messages that may be generated.
The format for multiline replies requires that every line, except
the last, begin with "%", followed by space, the reply code, a
hyphen, and an optional text. The last line will begin with "%",
followed by space, the reply code, a space and some optional text.
System generated messages displayed before or after the formatted
response section are expected to refer to operation of the system
or refer to the entire query. System generated messages within the
output of an individual record during a FULL reponse are expected
to refer to that record only, and could (for example) be used to
indicate problems with that record of the response. See Appendix E
for a description of system messages.
2.5. Compatibility with Older WHOIS Servers
Note that this format, although potentially more verbose, is still
in a human readible form. Responses from older systems that do not
follow this format are still conformant, since their responses
would be interpreted as being equivalent to optional text messages,
without a formatted response. Clients written to this specifica-
tion would display the responses as a advisory text message, where
it would still be readible by the user.
3. Miscellaneous
3.1. Acknowledgements
The WHOIS++ effort began as an intensive brainstorming session at
the 24th IETF, in Boston Massachusetts. Present at the birth, and
contributing ideas through this early phase, were (alphabetically)
Peter Deutsch, Alan Emtage, Jim Fullton, Joan Gargano, Brad Passwa-
ters, Simon Spero, and Chris Weider. Others who have since helped
shape this document with feedback and suggestions include Roxana
Bradescu, Patrik Faltstrom, Kevin Gamiel, Dan Kegel, Michael Meal-
ling, Mark Prior and Rickard Schoultz.
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3.2. Contact information
Peter Deutsch,
BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
310 St-Catherine St West,
suite 202,
Montreal, Quebec H2X 2A1
CANADA
<peterd@bunyip.com>
Rickard Schoultz,
KTHNOC, SUNET/NORDUnet/Ebone Operations Centre
100 44 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
<schoultz@sunet.se>
Patrik Faltstrom
BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
310 St-Catherine St West,
suite 202,
Montreal, Quebec H2X 2A1
CANADA
<paf@bunyip.com>
Chris Weider
BUNYIP INFORMATION SYSTEMS, inc
2001 S. Huron Parkway, #12
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
USA
<clw@bunyip.com>
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Appendix A - Some Sample Queries
author=chris and template=user
The result will consist of all records where attribute "author"
matches "chris" with case ignored. Only USER templates will be
searched. An example of a matching record is "Author=Chris Weider".
This is the typical case of search.
schoultz and rick;search=lstring
The result will consist of all records which have one attribute
value matching "schoultz" exactly and one having "rick" as leading
substring, both with case ignored. One example is "Name=Rickard
Schoultz".
value=phone;search=substring
The result will consist of all records which have attribute values
matching *phone*, for example the record "Name=Acme telephone
inc.", but will not match the attribute name "phone". (Since
"value" term specifier is the default, the search term could be
"phone" as well as "value=phone".)
search-all=Peter ; search=substring;case=consider
The result will consist of all records which have attribute names,
template names or attribute values matching "Peter" with respect to
case. One example is "Friend-Of-Peter: Yes".
ucdavis;search=substring and (gargano or joan):include=name,email
This search command will find records which have records containing
the words "gargano" or "joan" somewhere in the record, and has the
word "ucdavis" somewhere in a word. The result will only show the
"name" and "email" fields.
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Appendix B - Some sample responses.
1) A FULL format response:
# FULL
# USER SERVHANDLE1:PD45
Name: Peter Deutsch
email: peterd@bunyip.com
# USER SERVHANDLE1:AE1
Name: Alan Emtage
email: bajan@bunyip.com
# USER SERVHANDLE1:NW1
Name: Nick West
Favourite-Bicycle-Forward-Wheel-Brand: New Bicy
+cles Acme Inc.
email: nick@bicycle.acme.com
My-favourite-song: Happy birthday to you!
-Happy birthday to you!
-Happy birthday dear Nick!
-Happy birthday to you.
# SERVICES SERVHANDLE1:WWW1
Type: World Wide Web
Location: the world
# END
--------------------
2) An ABRIDGED format response:
# ABRIDGED
Peter Deutsch peterd@bunyip.com PD45
Alan Emtage bajan@bunyip.com AE1
World Wide Web the world WWW1
# END
--------------------
3) A HANDLE format response:
# HANDLE
SERVHANDLE1:PD45 User
SERVHANDLE1:AE1 User
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SERVHANDLE1:WWW1 Services
# END
--------------------
4) A SUMMARY HANDLE format response:
# SUMMARY
Matches: 175
Templates: User
- Services
- Abstracts
# END
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Appendix C - Sample responses to system commands
C.1 Response to the LIST command
# ABRIDGED
USER
SERVICES
HELP
# END
C.2 Response to the SHOW command
This example show the result after issuing "show help":
# FULL
# TEMPLATE serverhandle1:user-template
Template-Name: USER
Attribute-Names: Name,Organization-Name,Organization-Type,Work-Phone,
+Work-Fax,Work-Postal,Job-Title,Department,Email,Handle,Home-Phone,
+Home-Postal,Home-Fax
# TEMPLATE serverhandle1:help
Template-Name: HELP
Attribute-Names: Subject,Description,Handle
# END
C.3 Response to the POLLED-BY command
# FULL
# POLLED-BY xyz:serverhandle1
Server-handle: serverhandle1
Cached-Host-Name: sunic.sunet.se
Cached-Host-Port: 7070
Template: user
Field: ALL
# POLLED-BY xyz:serverhandle2
Server-handle: serverhandle2
Cached-Host-Name: kth.se
Cached-Host-Port: 7070
Template: ALL
Field: Name,Email
# END
C.4 Response to the POLLED-FOR command
# FULL
# POLLED-FOR xyz:serverhandle3
Server-Handle: serverhandle3
Template: ALL
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Field: Name,Address,Job-Title,Organization-Name,Organization-Address,
+Organization-Name
# POLLED-FOR xyz:serverhandle4
Server-Handle: serverhandle4
Template: User
Field: ALL
# END
C.5 Response to the VERSION command
# FULL
# VERSION serverhandle:version
Version: 1.0
Program-Name: kth-whoisd
Program-Version: 2.0
# END
C.6 Response to the CONSTRAINTS command
# FULL
# CONSTRAINT asdjkq
Constraint: format
Default: full
Range: full,abridged,summary,handle
# CONSTRAINT ljkqwer
Constraint: maxhits
Default: 200
Range: 1-1000
# CONSTRAINT slkjewer
Constraint: search
Default: exact
Range: exact,substring,lstring
# CONSTRAINT qwewerq
Constraint: maxfull
Default: 20
# END
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Appendix D - Sample whois++ session
Below is an example of a session between a client and a server. The
angle brackets to the left is not part of the communication, but is
just put there to denonte the direction of the communication
between the server or the client. Text appended to '>' means mes-
sages from the server and '<' from the client.
Client connects to the server
>% 220-Welcome to
>% 220-the whois++ server
>% 220 at ACME inc.
<name=Nick:hold
>% 200 Command okay
>
># FULL
>
># USER serverhandle:nw1
> name: Nick West
> email: nick@acme.com
># END
># SERVERS-TO-ASK
> Version-number: 1.0
> Next-Servers: sunetse01;whois.sunet.se;7070
>- kthse01
>- anotherserverhandle01;whois.acme.com;7070
># END
>% 226 Tranfer complete
<version
>% 200 Command okay
># FULL
># VERSION ignoredserverhandle:version
> Version: 1.0
># END
>% 226 Tranfer complete
>% 203 Bye
Server closes the connection
In the example above, the client connected to a whois++ server and
queried for all records where the attribute "name" equals "Nick",
and asked the server not to close the connection after the response
by using the global constraint "HOLD".
The server responds with one record and a pointer to three other
servers that either holds records or pointers to other servers.
The first server was polled for "USER" templates and "name" and
"email" fields.
The client continues with asking for servers version number without
using the HOLD constraint. After responding with protocol version,
the server closes the connection.
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Note that each response from the server begins system message 200
(Command OK), and ends with system message 226 (Transfer Complete).
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Appendix E - System messages
A system message begins with a '%', followed by a space and a three
digit number, a space, and an optional text message. The line mes-
sage must be no more than 81 characters long, including the ter-
minating CR LF pair. There is no limit to the number of system mes-
sages that may be generated.
A multiline system message have a hyphen instead of a space in
column 6, immediately after the numeric response code in all lines,
except the last one, where the space is used.
Example 1
% 200 Command okay
Example 2
% 220-Welcome to
% 220-the whois++ server
% 220 at ACME inc.
The client is not expected to parse the text part of the response
message except when receiving reply 600, in which case the text
part is the name of a character set that will be used by the server
in the rest of the response. The valid values for characters sets
is specified in the "characterset" list in the BNF listing in
appendix F.
The theory of reply codes is described in appendix E in RFC 821
[POST82].
------------------------------------------------------------------------
List of system response codes
------------------------------
110 Too many hits The number of matches exceeded
the value specified by the
maxhits constraint. Server
will still reply with as many
records as "maxhits" allows.
111 Requested constraint not supported One or more constraints in
query is not implemented, but
the search is still done.
112 Requested constraint not fullfilled One or more constraints in
query has unacceptable value
and was therefore not used,
but the search is still done.
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200 Command Ok Command accepted and executed.
The client must wait for a
transaction end system message.
201 Command Completed successfully Command accepted and executed.
203 Bye Server is closing connection
220 Service Ready Greeting message. Server is
accepting commands.
226 Transaction complete End of data. All responses to
query are sent.
430 Authentication needed Client requested information
that needs authentication.
500 Syntax error
502 Search expression too complicated This message is sent when the
server is not able to resolve
a query (i.e. when a client
sent a regular expression that
is too deeply nested).
530 Authentication failed The authentication phase
failed.
600 <token> Subsequent attribute values are
encoded in the charater set
specified by <token>.
Table V - System response codes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Appendix F - The WHOIS++ BNF Grammar
whois-command = ( system-command [":" "hold"]
/ terms [":" globalcnstrnts] ) NL
system-command = "constraints"
/ "describe"
/ "commands"
/ "polled-by"
/ "polled-for"
/ "version"
/ "list"
/ "show" [1*SP string]
/ "help" [1*SP string]
/ "?" [string]
terms = and-expr *("or" and-expr)
and-expr = not-expr *("and" not-expr)
not-expr = ["not"] (term / ( "(" terms ")" ))
term = generalterm / specificterm
/ shorthandle / combinedterm
generalterm = string *(";" localcnstrnt)
specificterm = specificname "=" string
*(";" localcnstrnt)
specificname = "handle" / "value"
shorthandle = "!" string *(";" localcnstrnt)
combinedterm = string "=" string *(";" localcnstrnt)
globalcnstrnts = globalcnstrnt *(";" globalcnstrnt)
globalcnstrnt = localcnstrnt
/ "format" "=" format
/ "maxfull" "=" 1*digit
/ "maxhits" "=" 1*digit
/ opt-globalcnst
opt-globalcnst = "hold"
/ "authenticate" "=" auth-method
/ "name" "=" string
/ "password" "=" string
/ "language" "=" language
/ "incharset" "=" characterset
/ "ignore" "=" string
/ "include" "=" string
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format = "full" / "abridged" / "handle" / "summary"
/ "servers-to-ask"
language = <The two-letter language code defined in
ISO 639-1988 can be used as language constraint.
In these the case of the letters are
insignificant. Other language codes shall be
interpreted according to the Internet standard
for language codes in RFC 822/MIME messages, if
and when such a standard is adopted>
characterset = "us-ascii" / "iso-8859-1" / "iso-8859-2" /
"iso-8859-3" / "iso-8859-4" / "iso-8859-5" /
"iso-8859-6" / "iso-8859-7" / "iso-8859-8" /
"iso-8859-9" / "iso-8859-10" / charset-value
charset-value = 1*char
localcnstrnt = "search" "=" searchvalue /
"case" "=" casevalue
searchvalue = "exact" / "substring" / "regex" / "fuzzy"
/ "lstring"
casevalue = "ignore" / "consider"
auth-method = "password"
string = 0*char
char = "\" specialchar
/ <Characters 0-255 (decimal) except specialchar>
specialchar = " " / <tab> / "=" / "," / ":" / ";" / "\" /
"*" / "." / "(" / ")" / "[" / "]" / "^" /
"$" / "!" / "?"
digit = "0" / "1" / "2" / "3" / "4" /
"5" / "6" / "7" / "8" / "9"
NL = <CR LF (decimal 13 10)>
NOTE: Significant blanks must be escaped. The following char-
acters, when significant to the query, may be preceded and/or
followed by a single blank:
: ; , ( ) = !
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Appendix G - Description of Regular expressions
The regular expressions described in this section is the same
as used in many other applications and operating systems. It
is though very simple and does not include logical operators
AND and OR.
Searches using regular expressions are always using substring
matching except when the regular expression contains the char-
acters '^' or '$'.
Character Function
--------- --------
<any except those listed in this table> Matches itself
. Matches any character
a* Matches zero or more 'a'
[ab] Matches 'a' or 'b'
[a-c] Matches 'a', 'b' or 'c'
^ Matches beginning of a token
$ Matches end of a token
Examples
---------
String Matches Matches not
------- ------- -----------
hello xhelloy heello
h.llo hello helio
h.*o hello helloa
h[a-f]llo hello hgllo
^he.* hello ehello
.*lo$ hello helloo
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References
[HARR85] Harrenstein K., Stahl M., Feinler E., NICNAME/WHOIS,
RFC954, SRI, October 1985
[IAFA] Internet Anonymous FTP Archives Working Group (now
closed).
[IAFA1] Emtage A., and Deutsch P.. IAFA (Internet Anonymous
FTP Archives)
(not yet issued, pending some editing...)
[IIIR] Weider C., and Deutsch P., A vision of an integrated
internet information service, Internet Draft,
October, 1993. < URL:ftp://nic.merit.edu/documents/
internet-drafts/draft-ietf-iiir-vision-02.txt >
[NIR] Network Information Retrieval Working Group.
[POST82] Postel J., Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, RFC 821,
ISI, August 1982.
Expires: 25 July 95
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