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|
.TH QNS 7
.CT 1 sa_auto
.SH NAME
qns \- query name server
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B qns
[
.B -n
.I server
] [
.I request
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Qns
retrieves information from
a database of naming information.
It is used by
.I rsh
and
.I rlogin
(see
.IR dcon (1))
to translate names to internet addresses and by
.IR mail (1)
to route electronic mail.
.PP
Entries in the database
consist of one or more
.IB value , type
pairs or simple
.I values.
A simple
.I value
declares the name of some entity.
An entry may contain no name
or several, and
different entries containing the same name
need not refer to the same entity.
.PP
These types are used:
.PP
.TF origin
.TP
.B dk
.I Value
is a Datakit address.
.TP
.B in
.I Value
is a numeric IP address.
.TP
.B dom
.I Value
is an internet domain name.
.TP
.B tel
.I Value
is a telephone number,
possibly prefixed by a
.I uucp
.B Dialcodes
name.
.TP
.B org
.I Value
is an organization name.
.TP
.B svc
.I Value
names a service.
.TP
.B origin
.I Value
must be
.BR local ,
for sorting by `distance';
see below.
.PD
.PP
The following entries describe an entity
.B research
with a Datakit address,
an IP address and domain name,
belonging to organization
.BR att ,
and offering the
.B uucp
service:
.IP
.EX
192.11.4.55,in research research.astro.nj.att.com.,dom att,org
research nj/astro/research,dk uucp,svc att,org
.EE
.PP
.I Qns
prints database entries that match
.I requests.
If a
.IR request
is supplied on the command line,
.I qns
prints the answer and exits;
otherwise it reads and answers requests from the standard input
until end-of-file.
The possible requests are:
.TP
.BI set " key" ...
Print every entry
matching
all
.IR keys .
.TP
.BI value " tlist key" ...
Examine entries matching
the
.IR keys
until a pair with type
.I tlist
is found;
print the matching value
and stop.
.I Tlist
may be a single type,
or several separated by
.LR | .
.TP
.B reset
Cause the name server
to reinitialize its database.
.TP
.B help
Print a list of requests.
.TP
.B quit
Exit
.IR qns .
.PD
.PP
A
.I key
is a
.IB value , type
pair;
an entry matches if it contains that pair.
If
.BI , type
is omitted,
any pair with the specified
.I value
will do.
A
.B *
at the end of a
.I value
stands for an arbitrary suffix.
.PP
When a database search
returns several entries with
.B dk
or
.B dom
types, and the database contains an entry with the conventional pair
.BR local,origin ,
the entries are sorted by increasing `distance'
from the
.B dk
or
.B dom
pairs in the
.B local,origin
entry.
Datakit names in the same exchange are nearer
than names in different exchanges in the same area,
which are nearer than names in different areas.
Domain names matching to four levels of domain hierarchy
are nearer than names matching to only three levels,
and so on.
.PP
.I Qns
expects to reach the name server
.IR ns (8);
option
.B -n
points it at service
.I server
instead.
.SH SEE ALSO
.IR ipc (3),
.IR ns (8)
|
