RFC 954 (rfc954) - Page 2 of 4

NICNAME/WHOIS

RFC 954                                                     October 1985
NICNAME/WHOIS


PROTOCOL

   To access the NICNAME/WHOIS server:

      Connect to the SRI-NIC service host at TCP service port 43
      (decimal).

      Send a single "command line", ending with  (ASCII CR and
      LF).

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

EXISTING USER PROGRAMS

   NICNAME is the global name for the user program, although many sites
   have chosen to use the more familiar name of "WHOIS".  There are
   versions of the NICNAME user program 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.  Contact A for copies of the
   program.

COMMAND LINES AND REPLIES

   A command line is normally a single name specification.  Note that
   the specification formats will evolve with time; the best way to
   obtain the most recent documentation on name specifications is to
   give the server a command line consisting of "?" (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 illustrate the use of NICNAME as of October
   1985.

   ---------------------------------------------------------------------

      Command line: ?
      Response:

      Please enter a name or a NIC handle, such as "Smith" or "SRI-NIC".
      Starting with a period forces a name-only search; starting with
      exclamation point forces handle-only.  Examples:




Harrenstien & Stahl & Feinler