RFC 1249 (rfc1249) - Page 2 of 10

DIXIE Protocol Specification

RFC 1249                         DIXIE                       August 1991


   2.2.8.2 Bind Reply ...........................................  8
   2.3 Operation Code Summary ...................................  8
   2.4 Return Code Summary ......................................  8
   3. References ................................................  9
   4. Available Implementations .................................  9
   5. Security Considerations....................................  9
   6. Authors' Addresses ........................................ 10

1.    Introduction

   OSI Directory Service defines a powerful mechanism for storing and
   retrieving information about objects, and for arranging those objects
   in a hierarchical structure.  Many types of objects and information
   can be stored in The Directory, including white pages information,
   application information, service information, etc.  The OSI protocol
   defined to allow access to this information is the Directory Access
   Protocol (DAP).  The DAP, being an OSI application-layer program, is
   fairly heavy-weight and requires a substantial amount of computing
   power and coding investment to implement.

   The DIXIE protocol is designed for use by smaller hosts (e.g.,
   Macintoshes and PCs) that do not have the computing power or
   necessary software to implement a full OSI protocol stack.  The DIXIE
   protocol is also useful for any Internet application that wants a
   simple interface to X.500 that requires very little coding
   investment.

   The basic idea behind DIXIE is the same as that described in RFC 1202
   for the Directory Assistance Protocol.  DIXIE offers both UDP and TCP
   access to The Directory.  While the Directory Assistance Protocol
   exports something of a user interface, DIXIE provides a more direct
   protocol translation.

1.1   History

   The DIXIE protocol has evolved over time, slowly growing into the
   protocol described by this document.  Without an understanding of the
   circumstances surrounding this evolution, the wisdom of some of the
   DIXIE design decisions may not be apparent.

2.    Protocol

   This section describes the DIXIE protocol in detail.  DIXIE follows a
   client-server request and response paradigm.  Clients send request
   packets to a DIXIE server, and the server sends reply packets in
   return.  Communication may be over UDP or TCP, depending upon the
   needs of the client.  All modification operations (ADD, REMOVE,
   MODIFY, MODIFYRDN) must be performed over a TCP connection, which



Howes, Smith, & Beecher