RFC 1436 (rfc1436) - Page 1 of 16
The Internet Gopher Protocol (a distributed document search and retrieval protocol)
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group F. Anklesaria
Request for Comments: 1436 M. McCahill
P. Lindner
D. Johnson
D. Torrey
B. Alberti
University of Minnesota
March 1993
The Internet Gopher Protocol
(a distributed document search and retrieval protocol)
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard. Distribution of this memo is
unlimited.
Abstract
The Internet Gopher protocol is designed for distributed document
search and retrieval. This document describes the protocol, lists
some of the implementations currently available, and has an overview
of how to implement new client and server applications. This
document is adapted from the basic Internet Gopher protocol document
first issued by the Microcomputer Center at the University of
Minnesota in 1991.
Introduction
gopher n. 1. Any of various short tailed, burrowing mammals of the
family Geomyidae, of North America. 2. (Amer. colloq.) Native or
inhabitant of Minnesota: the Gopher State. 3. (Amer. colloq.) One
who runs errands, does odd-jobs, fetches or delivers documents for
office staff. 4. (computer tech.) software following a simple
protocol for burrowing through a TCP/IP internet.
The Internet Gopher protocol and software follow a client-server
model. This protocol assumes a reliable data stream; TCP is assumed.
Gopher servers should listen on port 70 (port 70 is assigned to
Internet Gopher by IANA). Documents reside on many autonomous
servers on the Internet. Users run client software on their desktop
systems, connecting to a server and sending the server a selector (a
line of text, which may be empty) via a TCP connection at a well-
known port. The server responds with a block of text terminated by a
period on a line by itself and closes the connection. No state is
retained by the server.
Anklesari, McCahill, Lindner, Johnson, Torrey & Alberti