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Network Working Group P. Hoffman Request for Comments: 4156 VPN Consortium Category: Historic August 2005

                        The wais URI Scheme

Status of This Memo

 This memo defines a Historic Document for the Internet community.  It
 does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
 this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

 This document specifies the wais Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)
 scheme that was originally specified in RFC 1738.  The purpose of
 this document is to allow RFC 1738 to be made obsolete while keeping
 the information about the scheme on standards track.

1. Introduction

 URIs were previously defined in RFC 2396 [RFC2396], which was updated
 by RFC 3986 [RFC3986].  Those documents also specify how to define
 schemes for URIs.

 The first definitions for many URI schemes appeared in RFC 1738
 [RFC1738].  Because that document has been made obsolete, this
 document copies the wais URI scheme from it to allow that material to
 remain on standards track.

2. Scheme Definition

 The WAIS URL scheme is used to designate WAIS databases, searches, or
 individual documents available from a WAIS database.  The WAIS
 protocol is described in RFC 1625 [RFC1625].  Although the WAIS
 protocol is based on Z39.50-1988, the WAIS URL scheme is not intended
 for use with arbitrary Z39.50 services.

 Historical note: The WAIS protocol was not widely implemented and
 almost no WAIS servers are in use today.

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 A WAIS URL takes one of the following forms:

    wais://<host>:<port>/<database>
    wais://<host>:<port>/<database>?<search>
    wais://<host>:<port>/<database>/<wtype>/<wpath>

 If :<port> is omitted, the port defaults to 210.  The first form
 designates a WAIS database that is available for searching.  The
 second form designates a particular search. <database> is the name of
 the WAIS database being queried.

 The third form designates a particular document, within a WAIS
 database, to be retrieved.  In this form <wtype> is the WAIS
 designation of the type of the object.  Many WAIS implementations
 require that a client know the "type" of an object prior to
 retrieval; the type is returned along with the internal object
 identifier in the search response.  The <wtype> is included in the
 URL in order to give the client interpreting the URL adequate
 information to actually retrieve the document.

 The <wpath> of a WAIS URL consists of the WAIS document-id.  The WAIS
 document-id should be treated opaquely; it may only be decomposed by
 the server that issued it.

3. Security Considerations

 Many security considerations for URI schemes are discussed in
 [RFC3986].  There are no security considerations listed in [RFC1625],
 but it should be noted that there is no privacy nor authentication
 specified in the WAIS protocol.

4. Informative References

 [RFC1738]  Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, "Uniform
            Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, December 1994.

 [RFC2396]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
            Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396,
            August 1998.

 [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
            Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66,
            RFC 3986, January 2005.

 [RFC1625]  St. Pierre, M., Fullton, J., Gamiel, K., Goldman, J.,
            Kahle, B., Kunze, J., Morris, H., and F. Schiettecatte,
            "WAIS over Z39.50-1988", RFC 1625, June 1994.

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Author's Address

 Paul Hoffman
 VPN Consortium
 127 Segre Place
 Santa Cruz, CA  95060
 US

 EMail: paul.hoffman@vpnc.org

Hoffman Historic [Page 3]  RFC 4156 The wais URI Scheme August 2005

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

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 contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
 retain all their rights.

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Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

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