1  WHOIS

   Allows queries of various WHOIS servers that provide information on
   onwers of domain names or range of IP adresses. 

   DCL Format

     WHOIS  domain  qualifier(s) 

             [ /SERVER=server ]

	     [ /HOST=server ]

             [ /PORT=n ]

             [ /LIST ]

             [ /OUTPUT=file ]

             [ /FULL /BRIEF ] 

2  Parameters
 

query

   Required unless /LIST is specified.

   Queries can be of the following form without specifying a whois server
	domain.tld -> chocolate.com
	ip.address -> 192.151.53.86
	ASnumber   -> AS151

   Other queries such as:
	netname	   -> NET-192-151-1-0-1
	generic	   -> "HELP" or "?"
   Require the /SERVER (or /HOST) qualifier to specify a server.

   To specifiy flags in a query, enclose it in quotes:
	"a 192.151.53.86"

   Note that a ? query must be enclosed in quotes.

   To lookup an autonomous system number (AS number), prefix the number
   with AS ex: WHOIS AS8001

   Note that when you specified only a command such as "help", you must
   specifiy a server name since the software cannot determine which server
   you wish to connect to. 

2  Qualifiers
 

/SERVER
/HOST
         /SERVER=server_name[:n]
         /HOST=server_name[:n]

         Optional. Default: From built-in list.
   
   Specifies a fully qualified remote host name to which the WHOIS query
   will be sent. You may provide a port number by appending :nnn to the
   host name (see also the /PORT qualifier). 

   If the server name is omitted, the appropriate server will be selected
   from a built-in list based on the domain name's tld.

/PORT

      /PORT=n

   Optional. Default: 43 (whois)

   Specifies the port number to be used to connect to the remote whois
   server. In the case of servers whose name begin with "rwhois", the
   default port is 4321. The port number can also be specified by appending
   it to the server name with a colon.


/LIST

         /LIST

      Optional.

   Display the built-in list of known whois servers for each top level
   domain (tld) along with the country name, and either a whois server name
   or a web site in cases where a whois server is not known.

 

/FULL

   /FULL
   /BRIEF (default)

   When querying for certain TLDs such as .COM, the primary server may
   redirect the query to another server which is responsible for this
   domain. The default behaviour is to display only the output of the final
   server which contains the most authoritative information. When /FULL is
   specified, the output from each query is shown

/OUTPUT

   /OUTPUT=filename

         Optional. Default: SYS$OUTPUT

   Redirects all output to a file or device. 
   

2  Examples

   1.$ WHOIS SUN.COM  
         This will use the internal tables to choose which WHOIS server can
         answer this query.

   2.$ WHOIS SUN.COM /OUTPUT=temp.txt
   	
   3.$ WHOIS SUN.COM/SERVER=whois.networksolutions.com/PORT=43
         Sends the request to the specified server and port, bypassing the
         internal selection of the whois server.

   4.$ WHOIS /LIST
         Displays the internal list of whois servers for each TLD. In cases
         when a whois server is not known but a web site is available, the
         web site URL is displayed.

   5.$ WHOIS "?" /SERVER=whois.networksolutions.com
         This will display a short list of options available on that
         server.

3   Support

  If you have problems with the software, you can send an email to 
  jfmezei@vaxination.ca to report the problem.