New Whois Display Format

ginny listman ginny at arin.net
Tue Mar 12 11:00:20 EST 2002


To coincide with the release of the new database and templates, ARIN has
begun development of a new Whois, in a modular format. The Output Module
will define the Whois display. It is our objective to keep the Whois
display in a easily readable format, while accomodating machine queries
by providing labels.

The requirements outlined in this document are based on feedback from the
community. To provide a usable tool, we are requesting additional comments 
at this time.  Additionally, this format will be discussed at the Member
Meeting taking place April 7-10 in Las Vegas.

Ginny Listman
Director of Engineering
ARIN

*****

           WHOIS REQUIREMENTS

I. Uses of Whois
   a. As a troubleshooting aid
   b. For Applications that use resource assignment information
   c. To show address space utilization
   d. In the future, to display routing objects

II. Privacy
   a. The Whois database is a public resource.

III. Formats
   a. The "default" format is returned when querying Whois without any flags, 
      and there is a single record returned. For ease of use all items will
      include labels. If a field does not exist, for example if a POC is 
      missing a email address, a label will not be displayed. Refer to the 
      attached "Whois Examples" for samples. The four object will be displayed 
      as follows:

      i. Point Of Contact - display all attributes of the POC

         Name: <last name, first name, middle name> or <role account>
         Handle: <point of contact handle>
         Address: <organization name, street address, city, state, zip, 
                   country code>
         Phone: <phone number, phone extension, phone type>
         Phone: <phone number, phone extension, phone type>
         Email: <email address>
         Email: <email address>

     ii. Organization - list the organization and all associated POCs

         Org Name: <organization name>
         Org ID: <organization ID, formerly maintainer ID>
         Org Address: <street address, city, state, zip, country code>

         Org <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         Org <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         Org <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         Org <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>

         Org <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         Org <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         Org <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         Org <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>
          
         Note: Organization POC functions include Admin, Tech, Abuse and NOC.

    iii. Autonomous System - list the organization, the autonomous system,
         POCs for the autonomous system, and POCs for the organization

         Org Name: <organization name>
         Org ID: <organization ID, formerly maintainer ID>
         Org Address: <street address, city, state, zip, country code>

         AS Number: <autonomous system number>
         AS Handle: <autonomous system handle>
         AS Name: <autonomous system name>

         AS <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         AS <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         AS <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         AS <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>

         Org <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         Org <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         Org <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         Org <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>
          
         Note: All POCs for the AS will be displayed. Only the organization's
         Tech, Abuse and NOC POCs will be displayed.

     iv. IPv4 Network - list the organization, the network, POCs for the
         network, POCs for the organization

         Org Name: <organization name>
         Org ID: <organization ID, formerly maintainer ID>
         Org Address: <street address, city, state, zip, country code>

         CIDR Net Address: <network address in CIDR format>
         Network Range: <network address range>
         Network Handle: <network handle>
         Network Name: <network name>
         Can Sub-Delegate: <Y/N>
         IN-ADDR: <in-addr server name>
         IN-ADDR: <in-addr server name>

         Net <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         Net <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         Net <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         Net <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>

         Net <POC function> Handle: <POC handle>
         Net <POC function> Name: <POC name>
         Net <POC function> Phone: <POC office phone number><*>
         Net <POC function> Email: <POC email address><*>
          
         Note: All POCs for the network will be displayed. Only the 
         organization's Tech, Abuse and NOC POCs will be displayed.

         * Indicates that multiple phone numbers or email addresses exist,
           of which only the first is displayed.

   b. The "list" format is returned when querying Whois without specifying any 
      flags, and there are multiple records returned. Labels are not included.
      The fields that are displayed are outlined below.
      i. Point Of Contact - last name, first name, middle name, handle, one 
         email address, one office phone number
     ii. Organization - Organization name, Organization ID
    iii. Autonomous System - AS name, handle, AS number
   iiii. Network - network name, handle, either a single CIDR block or network
         range.

   c. In the future, we may provide the output in RPSL-like format.

IV. Query by type. To narrow a search, a query can include a flag indicating
    the object type as follows:
   a. n <query string> will return only networks
   b. a <query string> will return only autonomous systems
   c. p <query string> will return only point-of-contacts
   d. o <query string> will return only organizations

V. Query by attribute. To narrow a search, a query can also include a flag
   as follows:
   a. ! <handle> will return the single match of the specified handle
   b. @ <DNS name> will return the list of POCs with the specified domain name
      in the email address
   c. . <name> will return a list of POCs, organizations, autonomous systems,
      and/or networks that start with the specified name

VI. Additional features
   a. Sub-queries can be displayed using the % flag.  The queried string
      must return a single record to provide sub-query information.  The
      following objects have sub-query information:
      i. Networks - display the reassignment/reallocation information in
         list format, if data exists.
     ii. Organizations - display the organization's resources information
         in list format, if data exists.
   b. Parentage can be displayed using the * flag.  The queried string
      must return a single record to provide parentage information.  The
      following objects have parentage information:
      i. Networks - display the parentage in default format, if data exists.
     ii. Organizations - will be implemented in future releases.
   c. Other keywords
      i. = <query string> will show default displays for all matches, 
         regardless of the number returned
     ii. HELP will display the help screen
    iii. <query string>. will show a list of all matches starting with the
         given string.
     iv. SUM <query string> will show list displays, even if there is only
         one match.
   d. The maximum number of records output is limited to 256.  This may be
      revised in future versions.
   e. A future enhancement will include an relational lookup.  For example, if
      a POC is queried, the resouces associated with the POC would be 
      displayed.
-------------- next part --------------
                WHOIS EXAMPLES

The following information is used as sample data.

1. Organization ABC ISP is registered with 5 POCs - DEF-ARIN as the 
administrative contact, ABC-TECH-ARIN and  ABC-TECH2-ARIN as technical 
contacts, ABC-NOC-ARIN as a NOC contact and ABC-ABU-ARIN as an abuse contact.
2. ABC ISP has been assigned autonomous system 65000, and has ABUSE-ARIN as 
an abuse contact.
3. ABC ISP has been allocated two network blocks.  The first 10.0.0.0/15
does not have any resource POCs associated with it.  It has two IN-ADDR servers.
4. The second allocation 10.32.0.0/16 has SUP-ARIN as a technical contact and
NOC2-ARIN as a NOC contact.  It has 4 IN-ADDR servers.
5. ABC has reassigned 10.32.0.0-10.32.0.19 to XYZ ISP. XYZ has the minimal
amount of POCs - XYZ-TECH-ARIN as the organizational technical and XYZ-ADMI-ARIN
as the administrative. There are no POCs or IN-ADDR servers on the reallocation.

Based on this information, the whois display would be as follows:

1. whois abc
    Org Name: ABC ISP
    Org ID: ABC
    Org Address: 132 Main Street
                 Anytown, VA 22222
                 US

    Org Admin Handle: DEF-ARIN
    Org Admin Name: Foobar, Dwight E.
    Org Admin Phone: +1-999-999-7777 (Office) *
    Org Admin Email: foobar at example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-9999 (Office) *
    Org Tech Email: tech at example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH2-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support Manager
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-8888 (Office)
    Org Tech Email: tech-mgr at example.net

    Org NOC Handle: ABC-NOC-ARIN
    Org NOC Name: Network Operations Center
    Org NOC Phone: +1-999-999-6666 (Office) *
    Org NOC Email: noc at example.net

    Org Abuse Handle: ABC-ABU-ARIN
    Org Abuse Name: Network Abuse Support
    Org Abuse Phone: +1-999-999-5555 (Office) *
    Org Abuse Email: abuse at example.net

2. whois 65000
    Org Name: ABC ISP
    Org ID: ABC

    AS Number: 65000
    AS Handle: AS65000
    AS Name: ABC-ASN65000

    AS Abuse Handle: ABUSE-ARIN
    AS Abuse Name: AS 65000 Abuse Support
    AS Abuse Phone: +1-703-000-0000 (Office) *
    AS Abuse Email: abuse-65000 at example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-9999 (Office) *
    Org Tech Email: tech at example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH2-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support Manager
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-8888 (Office)
    Org Tech Email: tech-mgr at example.net

    Org NOC Handle: ABC-NOC-ARIN
    Org NOC Name: Network Operations Center
    Org NOC Phone: +1-999-999-6666 (Office) *
    Org NOC Email: noc at example.net

    Org Abuse Handle: ABC-ABU-ARIN
    Org Abuse Name: Network Abuse Support
    Org Abuse Phone: +1-999-999-5555 (Office) *
    Org Abuse Email: abuse at example.net

3. whois 10.0.0.0
    Org Name: ABC ISP
    Org ID: ABC

    CIDR Net Address: 10.0.0.0/15
    Network Range: 10.0.0.0-10.1.255.255
    Network Handle: NET-10-0-0-0
    Network Name: NETWORK-10
    Can Sub-Delegate: Y
    IN-ADDR: ns.example.net
    IN-ADDR: ns2.example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-9999 (Office) *
    Org Tech Email: tech at example.net

    Org Tech Handle: ABC-TECH2-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support Manager
    Org Tech Phone: +1-999-999-8888 (Office)
    Org Tech Email: tech-mgr at example.net

    Org NOC Handle: ABC-NOC-ARIN
    Org NOC Name: Network Operations Center
    Org NOC Phone: +1-999-999-6666 (Office) *
    Org NOC Email: noc at example.net

    Org Abuse Handle: ABC-ABU-ARIN
    Org Abuse Name: Network Abuse Support
    Org Abuse Phone: +1-999-999-5555 (Office) *
    Org Abuse Email: abuse at example.net

4. whois 10.32.0.0
    NETWORK-10.32 (NET-10-32-0-0)                  10.32.0.0/16
    NET-10-32-RE (NET-10-32-0-0-2)         10.32.0.0-10.32.0.19

5. whois NET-10-32-0-0-2
    Org Name: XYZ ISP
    Org ID: XYZ

    CIDR Net Address: 10.32.0.0/28, 10.32.0.19/30
    Network Range: 10.32.0.0-10.32.0.19
    Network Handle: NET-10-32-0-0-2
    Network Name: NET-10-32-RE
    Can Sub-Delegate: N

    Org Tech Handle: XYZ-TECH-ARIN
    Org Tech Name: Technical Support
    Org Tech Phone: +1-777-777-7777 (Office) *
    Org Tech Email: tech-xyz at example.net

6. whois ABC-NOC-ARIN
    Name: Network Operations Center
    Handle: ABC-NOC-ARIN
    Address: ABC ISP
             132 Main Street
             Anytown, VA 22222
             US
    Phone: +1-999-999-6666 (Office)
    Phone: +1-888-888-8888 (Mobile)
    Phone: +1-777-777-7777 (Fax)
    Email: noc at example.net


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