GENWiki

Ken Harrenstien RFC-812 Vic White 1 March 1982 Network Information Center SRI International

                        NICNAME/WHOIS

INTRODUCTION

  The NICNAME/WHOIS Server is an NCP/TCP transaction based
 query/response server, running on the SRI-NIC machine, that
 provides netwide directory service to ARPANET users.  It is
 one of a series of ARPANET/Internet name services maintained
 by the Network Information Center (NIC) at SRI International
 on behalf of the Defense Communications Agency (DCA).  The
 server is accessible across the ARPANET from user programs
 running on local hosts, and it delivers the full name, U.S.
 mailing address, telephone number, and network mailbox for
 ARPANET users.

 This server, together with the corresponding Identification
 Data Base provides online directory look-up equivalent to the
 ARPANET Directory.  DCA strongly encourages network hosts to
 provide their users with access to this network service.

WHO SHOULD BE IN THE DATA BASE

 DCA requests that each individual with a directory on an
 ARPANET host, who is capable of passing traffic across the
 ARPANET, be registered in the NIC Identification Data Base.
 To register, send full name, middle initial, U.S. mailing
 address (including mail stop and full explanation of
 abbreviations and acronyms), ZIP code, telephone (including
 Autovon and FTS, if available), and one network mailbox, via
 electronic mail to NIC@SRI-NIC.

PROTOCOL

 The NICNAME protocol is similar to the NAME/FINGER protocol
 (RFC 742).  To access the server:

 Connect to the service host (SRI-NIC)
    TCP: service port 43 decimal
    NCP: ICP to socket 43 decimal, establishing two 8-bit
 connections

 Send a single "command line", ending with <CRLF>.

 Receive information in response to the command line.  The
 server closes its connections as soon as the output is
 finished.

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RFC 812 1 March 1982

                                                         NICNAME/WHOIS
                                                                      
                                                                      

EXISTING USER PROGRAMS

 NICNAME has been chosen as the global name for the user
 program, although some sites may choose to use the more
 familiar name of "WHOIS".  There are versions of NICNAME for
 Tenex, Tops-20, and Unix.  The Tenex and Tops-20 programs are
 written in assembly language (FAIL/MACRO), and the Unix
 version is written in C.  They are easy to invoke, taking one
 argument which is passed directly to the NICNAME server at
 SRI-NIC.  Normally it is best to use the NIC-supplied
 programs, if possible, since the protocol will continue to
 evolve.  Contact NIC@SRI-NIC for copies.

COMMAND LINES AND REPLIES

 A command line is normally a single name specification.  The
 easiest way to obtain the most recent documentation on name
 specifications is to give the server a command line consisting
 of "?<CRLF>" (that is, a question-mark alone as the name
 specification).  The response from the NICNAME server will
 list all possible formats that can be used.

 The responses are not currently intended to be
 machine-readable; the information is meant to be passed back
 directly to a human user.  The following three examples will
 illustrate the use of NICNAME.

Command line: ? Response:

    Please enter a name or a handle ("ident"), such as "Smith"
 or "SRI-NIC".  Starting with a period forces a name-only
 search;
 starting with exclamation point forces handle-only.  Examples:
    Smith                   [looks for name or handle SMITH ]
    !SRI-NIC                [looks for handle SRI-NIC only  ]
    .Smith, John            [looks for name JOHN SMITH only ]
 Adding "..." to the argument will match anything from that
 point,
 e.g. "ZU..." will match ZUL, ZUM, etc.
    To have the ENTIRE membership list of a group or
 organization,
 if you are asking about a group or org, shown with the record,
 use
 an asterisk character "*" directly preceding the given
 argument.
 [CAUTION: If there are a lot of members this will take a long
 time!]
 You may of course use exclamation point and asterisk, or a
 period
 and asterisk together.

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1 March 1982 RFC 812 NICNAME/WHOIS

Command line: dyer Response:

 Dyer, David A. (DAD2)   DDYER@USC-ISIB  (213) 822-1511
 Dyer, Fred S. (FSD)  Dyer@RADC-MULTICS  (315) 330-7275
 Dyer, Mary K. (MARY)   DYER@SRI-NIC     (415) 859-4775
 Dyer, William R. (WRD)   WRDyer@RADC-MULTICS  (315) 330-7791

Command line: mary Response:

 Dyer, Mary K. (MARY)          DYER@SRI-NIC
 SRI International
 Network Information Center
 Telecommunications Sciences Center
 333 Ravenswood Avenue
 Menlo Park, California 94025
 Phone: (415) 859-4775

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