CURRENT_MEETING_REPORT_ Reported by Joan Gargano/UCDavis Minutes of the Whois and Network Information Lookup Service Working Group (WNILS) Joan Gargano reviewed the Agenda and the ways in which WNILS information is available over the network. Each author of the papers was asked to provide a review of work completed to date. Review of Whois++ Architecture - Peter Deutsch Peter provided a brief overview of the Whois++ model and architecture for new members of the Working Group. He then discussed the following extensions to the document which incorporated suggestions from the November 1992 IETF meeting and other discussions. The Working Group was asked for consensus on the inclusion of these features into the architecture. 1. Options and Extensions To maintain the simplicity of the original model and provide the features that may be needed in the future. A facility for options and extensions has been described and is recommended for inclusion in the architecture. 2. Multilingual Support Multilingual support is very important to the European community and needs to be supported. Whois++ should support the specification of multilingual queries and responses and the handling of multiple character sets. This option will be included and should draw upon the MIME standard. 3. Security and Authentication There is a need to restrict the output of information based upon the identity of the requester. An option should be implemented which provides for authentication. 4. Multiple Views The Group suggested this feature was already implemented in other query languages such as SQL and Z39.50. It was recommended that this feature be discussed further. 5. MIME Support The ability to support the delivery of non-ASCII text has been defined in the MIME standard. It is recommended that Whois++ incorporate the appropriate portion of the MIME standard to handle these documents. 6. Error Message Specification 1 Error handling and error messages need to be defined. 7. Extending Centroids This will be covered by Chris Weider. 8. Changing Ports and Developing a More Complex Protocol This Group felt this should not be pursued. 9. Ability to Hold Connections Open Multiple queries would benefit from the ability to leave a connection open. This should be included as an option. 10. Template Clearinghouse CNIDR has volunteered to perform this function. 11. Synonyms This feature would allow the ability to perform implicit ``or'' queries. It was recommended that this feature not be included. This can be accomplished by the client issuing multiple queries. 12. Database Write Option This feature would provide a distributed data management feature and should be included as an option. Review of the Distributed Whois++ model - Centroids - Chris Weider Chris gave a brief overview of the Centroid model of data propagation and information retrieval. The following extensions are recommended for the centroid model. 1. A free text abstract of the contents of each centroid server would provide a mechanism for finding servers which contain topical information of interest. This would provide an efficient way of providing a ``Yellow Pages'' directory server. 2. Polled by and polled for features would provide a mechanism for determining server location. 3. Bookmarks allow users to return to servers they have found useful in the past. Review of Front End to Database Integration - Jim Fullton A Whois++ client can be implemented with simple shell scripts. Centroid implementation on a UNIX platform currently require gdbs. Clients have been implemented on RS6000, Sun and Linex platforms. Review of Recommended Modifications to the Whois Protocol - Joan Gargano 2 Joan discussed the collation of data elements underway by the IAFA, NIR, TopNode and WNILS members. A revised list of data elements will be incorporated into the document prior to submission as an Internet-Draft. Discussion of Projects A simple server, centroid and client will be available by April 30th. Sources will be available on ftp.cnidr.org. Revise Goals and Milestones April 30, 1993 Submit the ``Whois and Network Information Lookup Service Recommendations'' and ``Architecture of the Whois++ Index Service'' documents as Internet-Drafts. April 30, 1993 A working implementation of the Whois++ protocol will be available for demonstration. Sources will be available from ftp.cnidr.org. June 11, 1993 Submit the ``Whois and Network Information Lookup Service Recommendations'', ``Architecture of the Whois++ Index Service'' and ``Distributed Whois++ Model - Centroids'' documents as Draft Standards. Attendees Vikas Aggarwal aggarwal@jvnc.net N. Akiko Aizawa akiko@nacsis.ac.jp Harald Alvestrand Harald.Alvestrand@delab.sintef.no Robert Beer r-beer@onu.edu Richard Bjers rich.bjers@uc.edu Thomas Brisco brisco@pilot.njin.net Sandy Bryant slb@virginia.edu Jodi-Ann Chu jodi@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu David Conklin conklin@jvnc.net Naomi Courter naomi@concert.net Brent Curtiss bcurtiss@magnuss.ocs.ohio-state.edu Mark Davis-Craig mad@merit.edu Alan Emtage bajan@bunyip.com Roger Fajman raf@cu.nih.gov Jill Foster Jill.Foster@newcastle.ac.uk Ned Freed ned@innosoft.com Marcello Frutig frutig@rnp.impa.br Jim Fullton Jim.Fullton@cnidr.org Maria Gallagher maria@nsipo.nasa.gov Kevin Gamiel kevin.gamiel@concert.net Joan Gargano jcgargano@ucdavis.edu Greg Gicale gicale@ohio.gov Terry Gray gray@cac.washington.edu 3 Susan Harris srh@umich.edu Alisa Hata hata@cac.washington.edu Russ Hobby rdhobby@ucdavis.edu Ellen Hoffman ellen@merit.edu Susan Horvath shorvath@merit.edu Inna Il'yasova ilyasova@meg.uncg.edu Lenore Jackson jackson@nsipo.arc.nasa.gov Neil Katin katin@eng.sun.com John Klensin klensin@infoods.unu.edu Jim Knowles jknowles@binky.arc.nasa.gov Edward Krol e-krol@uiuc.edu Hock-Koon Lim lim@po.cwru.edu Daniel Long long@nic.near.net David Lovering lovering@bldrdoc.gov Bruce Mackey brucem@cinops.xerox.com Samir Malak malaks@alice.uncg.edu Kent Malave kent@bach.austin.ibm.com Janet L. Marcisak jlm@ftp.com April Marine april@atlas.arc.nasa.gov Jerry Martin jerry+@osu.edu Michael Mealling michael@fantasy.gatech.edu Mitra mitra@pandora.sf.ca.us Keith Moore moore@cs.utk.edu Masataka Ohta mohta@cc.titech.ac.jp Pete Percival percival@indiana.edu David Perkins dperkins@synoptics.com Marsha Perrott mlp+@andrew.cmu.edu Mark Prior mrp@itd.adelaide.edu.au Robert Raisch raisch@ora.com Joyce K. Reynolds jkrey@isi.edu Francois Robitaille francois.robitaille@crim.ca Carl Schoeneberger 70410.3563@Compuserve.com Jennifer Sellers sellers@nsipo.nasa.gov Jane Smith Jane.Smith@cnidr.org Mark Smith mcs@umich.edu Larry Snodgrass snodgrass@bitnic.educom.edu Craig Todd ctodd@desire.wright.edu Matt Tuttle snodgras@cren.net Gregory Vaudreuil gvaudre@cnri.reston.va.us Ruediger Volk rv@informatik.uni-dortmund.de Janet Vratny janet@apple.com Chris Weider clw@merit.edu Les Wibberley lhw24@cas.org 4