whoispp-query type: The application/whoispp-query Content-Type
Registers a MIME type that carries Whois++ queries, so email and other MIME systems can ask Whois++ questions.
Daigle, L. and P. Faltstrom, "The application/whoispp-query Content-Type", RFC 2957, DOI 10.17487/RFC2957, October 2000, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2957>.
@misc{rfc2957,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 2957,
howpublished = {RFC 2957},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC2957},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2957},
author = {L. Daigle and P. Faltstrom},
title = {{The application/whoispp-query Content-Type}},
pagetotal = 6,
year = 2000,
month = oct,
} RFC text
Contents
Network Working Group L. Daigle
Request for Comments: 2957 Thinking Cat Enterprises
Category: Informational P. Faltstrom
Cisco Systems Inc.
October 2000
The application/whoispp-query Content-Type
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information 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 (2000). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document defines the expression of Whois++ protocol (RFC 1835)
queries within MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) (RFC
2046) media types. The intention of this document, in conjunction
with RFC 2958 is to enable MIME-enabled mail software, and other
systems using Internet media types, to carry out Whois++
transactions.
1. MIME Registration Information
To: iana@isi.edu
Subject: Registration of MIME media type application/whoispp-query
MIME Type name: Application
MIME subtype name: whoispp-query
Required parameters: none
Optional parameters: none
Encoding considerations: Any valid MIME encodings may be used
Security considerations: This content-type contains purely
descriptive information (i.e., no directives). There are security
considerations with regards to the appropriateness (privacy) of
information provided through the use of this content-type, and the
authenticity of the information so-provided. This content-type
provides no native mechanisms for authentication.
Published specification: this document
Person & email address to contact for further information:
Leslie L. Daigle
leslie@thinkingcat.com
Intended usage: common
2. whoispp-query Syntax
The following grammar, which uses BNF-like notation as defined in
[RFC2234] defines the set of acceptable input to a Whois++ server.
As such, it describes the expected structure of a whoispp-query media
type object.
N.B.: As outlined in the ABNF definition, rule names and string
literals are in the US-ASCII character set, and are case-insensitive.
whois-command = ( system-command / terms [":" globalcnstrnts] )
nl
system-command = "constraints" / "describe" / "commands" /
"polled-by" / "polled-for" / "version" / "list" /
"show" [1*sp bytestring] / "help" [1*sp
bytestring] / "?" [bytestring]
terms = and-expr *("or" and-expr)
and-expr = not-expr *("and" not-expr)
not-expr = ["not"] (term / ( "(" terms ")" ))
term = ( generalterm / specificterm / combinedterm )
localcnstrnts
generalterm = bytestring
specificterm = specificname "=" bytestring
specificname = "handle" / "value" / "template"
combinedterm = attributename "=" bytestring
globalcnstrnts = globalcnstrnt *(";" globalcnstrnt)
globalcnstrnt = "format" "=" format / "maxfull" "=" 1*digit /
"maxhits" "=" 1*digit / "case" "=" casevalue /
"search" "=" searchvalue / opt-globalcnst
opt-globalcnst = "authenticate" "=" auth-method / "language" "="
language / "incharset" "=" characterset /
"outcharset" "=" characterset / "ignore" "="
attriblist / "include" "=" attriblist
localcnstrnts = 0*(";" localcnstrnt)
localcnstrnt = "case" "=" casevalue / "search" "=" searchvalue
format = "full" / "abridged" / "handle" / "summary" /
"server-to-ask"
auth-method = bytestring
language = <The language code defined in RFC1766 [ALVE95]>
characterset = "us-ascii" / "iso-8859-1" / "iso-8859-2" / "iso-
8859-3" / "iso-8859-4" / "iso-8859-5" / "iso-
8859-6" / "iso-8859-7" / "iso-8859-8" / "iso-
8859-9" / "iso-8859-10" / "UNICODE-1-1-UTF-8" /
"UNICODE-2-0-UTF-8" "UTF-8"
;"UTF-8" is as defined in [RFC2279]. This is
;the character set label that should be used
;for UTF encoded information; the labels
;"UNICODE-2-0-UTF-8" and "UNICODE-1-1-UTF-8"
;are retained primarily for compatibility with
;older Whois++ servers (and as outlined in
;[RFC2279]).
searchvalue = "exact" / "substring" / "regex" / "fuzzy" /
"lstring"
casevalue = "ignore" / "consider"
bytestring = 0*charbyte
attributename = 1*attrbyte
attriblist = attributename 0*("," attributename)
charbyte = "\" specialbyte / normalbyte
normalbyte = <%d33-255, except specialbyte>
attrbyte = <%d33-127 except specialbyte> /
"\" <specialbyte except
":" " " tab nl>
specialbyte = " " / tab / "=" / "," / ":" / ";" / "\" /
"*" / "." / "(" / ")" /
"[" / "]" / "^" /
"$" / "!" / "?"
tab = %d09
sp = %d32 ; space
digit = "0" / "1" / "2" / "3" / "4" /
"5" / "6" / "7" / "8" /
"9"
nl = %d13 %d10 ; CR LF
NOTE: Blanks that are significant to a query must be escaped. The
following characters, when significant to the query, may be preceded
and/or followed by a single blank:
: ; , ( ) = !
3. Security Considerations
Security issues are discussed in section 1.
4. References
[ALVE95] Alvestrand H., "Tags for the Identification of Languages",
RFC 1766, March 1995.
[RFC2234] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.
[RFC2958] Daigle, L. and P. Faltstrom, "The application/whoispp-
response Content-type", RFC 2958, October 2000.
[RFC1835] Deutsch, P., Schoultz, R., Faltstrom, P. and C. Weider,
"Architecture of the WHOIS++ service", RFC 1835, August
1995.
[RFC2046] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
November 1996.
[HARR85] Harrenstein K., Stahl M. and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS",
RFC 954, October 1985.
[POST82] Postel J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", STD 10, RFC
821, August 1982.
[IIIR] Weider C. and P. Deutsch, "A Vision of an Integrated
Internet Information Service", RFC 1727, December 1994.
[WINDX] Weider, C., Fullton, J. and S. Spero, "Architecture of the
Whois++ Index Service", RFC 1913, February 1996.
[RFC2279] Yergeau F., " UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646",
RFC 2279, January 1998.
5. Authors' Addresses
Leslie L. Daigle
Thinking Cat Enterprises
Email: leslie@thinkingcat.com
Patrik Faltstrom
Cisco Systems Inc
170 W Tasman Drive SJ-13/2
San Jose CA 95134
USA
EMail: paf@cisco.com
URL: http://www.cisco.com
6. Full Copyright Statement
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.
This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
English.
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Acknowledgement
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
Internet Society.
AI ELI5
On this page
§1What the Type Is For
RFC 2957 defines how queries of the Whois++ protocol (RFC 1835) are expressed as a MIME media type (RFC 2046). Its stated aim, together with RFC 2958, is to let MIME-enabled mail software, and other systems that use Internet media types, carry out Whois++ transactions.
This memo covers the question half of the exchange. The answers are covered by the companion type, application/whoispp-response.
One memo labels the questions and its sister memo labels the answers, so mail programs can carry both.
§2The MIME Registration
Section 1 of the RFC is a registration template addressed to IANA. The type name is application and the subtype is whoispp-query. There are no required parameters and no optional parameters, and any valid MIME encodings may be used. The published specification is the RFC itself, the contact is the first author, and the intended usage is common.
This is the form that gets the new label added to the official list of labels.
§3Query Syntax
The grammar, written in the ABNF of RFC 2234, defines the acceptable input to a Whois++ server, and so the structure of a whoispp-query object. Rule names and string literals are US-ASCII and case-insensitive.
A command is either a system-command (such as constraints, describe, commands, version, list, show, help or ?) or search terms optionally followed by a colon and global constraints, ending in a CR LF. Terms combine with or, and and not, and parentheses can group them. A term can be a general string, or a specific one such as handle=, value= or template=, or an attribute name with a value.
Blanks that matter to a query must be escaped. A few characters, namely : ; , ( ) = !, may be preceded or followed by a single blank when significant.
The grammar is the rulebook for how to word a question so the server understands it, such as "find this AND that".
whois-command = ( system-command / terms [":" globalcnstrnts] )
nl
terms = and-expr *("or" and-expr)
and-expr = not-expr *("and" not-expr)
not-expr = ["not"] (term / ( "(" terms ")" ))
specificname = "handle" / "value" / "template"§4Constraints on a Search
Constraints shape how a search runs. Global constraints, after the colon and separated by semicolons, include format (full, abridged, handle, summary or server-to-ask), maxfull, maxhits, case and search. Optional global constraints add authenticate, language, incharset, outcharset, ignore and include.
Local constraints attach to a single term and are limited to case (ignore or consider) and search (exact, substring, regex, fuzzy or lstring). Character sets include us-ascii, the iso-8859 family and UTF-8; the older UTF-8 labels are kept for compatibility with older Whois++ servers.
Constraints are extra instructions on the question, like "only give me five answers" or "match the spelling exactly".
§5Security Considerations
The type carries purely descriptive information with no directives. The RFC notes security concerns about the appropriateness (privacy) of the information provided and about the authenticity of that information. The content type provides no native mechanisms for authentication, although the grammar has an optional authenticate constraint that names a method.
The label does not prove who sent a question, so anyone handling private information has to be careful.