HSWP-1, Help for White Pages                                            Page 1
 
Note: the system described by this sheet is purely experimental.
 
This sheet tells  you how to use  the White Pages,  a  distributed,  automated
directory of electronic-mail addresses.
 
 
Different Ways:
 
There is no one way to use White Pages.   All ways,  so far,  are based upon a
program called fred to which you can type commands that search for entries and
display the  results.   Your computer might  have the fred program.    If not,
there are various ways you can reach one through the network:
 
(1) Using "telnet wp.nyser.net" with username fred (no password necessary).
(2) Using the network facility "whois" with server "wp.nyser.net".
(3) Sending mail to whitepages@wp.nyser.net.
 
 
Using fred:
 
fred gives you the prompt fred> at  which time,  it expects commands described
below  under "Basic  White  Pages Command  Syntax".    Also  included are  the
commands "help", "manual" (which provides a longer help-text), and "quit".
 
 
Using telnet:
 
When you  telnet to  wp.nyser.net and give  it username  "fred",  it  will not
prompt you for a password,  but will immediately run fred for you and will end
your telnet session when you terminate fred.
 
 
Using whois:
 
Whois is a  network service available to  any computer on the  Internet though
not all have the software to use the  service.   Most Unix systems come with a
"whois"  command.    You can  direct  a  single  command  to fred  running  on
wp.nyser.net through the Unix command:
 
         whois -h wp.nyser.net 'YOURCOMMAND'
 
Note that  if your command  is more than one  word that the  single-quotes are
necessary.  YOURCOMMAND represents any of the basic commands described below.
 
 
Using Electronic Mail:
 
Send a  message to  whitepages@wp.nyser.net with  no message  body but  with a
single basic white-pages command (described below)  as the subject.   You will
receive an answer from daemon@wp.nyser.net.
 
 
Basic White Pages Command Syntax:
 
whois input-field [record-type] [area-designator] [output-control]
    input-field is one of:
        name NAME            e.g., surname "smith", or fullname "john smith"
        handle HANDLE        e.g., handle @c=US@cn=Manager
 
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HSWP-1, Help for White Pages                                            Page 2
 
        mailbox LOCAL@DOMAIN e.g., mailbox postmaster@nisc.nyser.net
 
    record-type is one of:
        person or -title NAME   e.g., -title scientist
        organization
        unit (a division under an organization)
        role (a role within an organization)
        locality
        dsa (white pages server)
 
    area-designator is one of:
        -org NAME            e.g., -org nyser
        -unit NAME           e.g., -unit engineering
        -locality NAME       e.g., -locality rensselaer
        -area HANDLE         e.g., -area "@c=US@o=NYSERNet Inc."
            and may be followed by -geo HANDLE, e.g., -geo @ce=GB
 
    output-control is any of:
        expand     - give a detailed listing, followed by children
        subdisplay - give a one-listing listing, followed by children
        full       - give a detailed listing, even on ambiguous matches
        summary    - give a one-line listing, even on unique matches
 
 
Defaults:
 
The default values depend upon what White Pages server you are using.   If you
are using fred,  which allows you to  do multiple commands,  there are ways to
change  the  defaults for  your  session.    wp.nyser.net's defaults  are  the
following:
 
input-field type   - "surname".
record-type        - unspecified: all record-types will be searched.
area-designator    - "-area @c=US@o=NYSERNet Inc."
output-control     - unspecified: unambiguous matches will yield a
                       detailed listing, ambiguous matches will yield
                       a one-line listing for each matching entry.
 
 
Examples of Usage:
 
whois surname smith
 
    looks for any entries with surname "smith" in the default area.
 
whois fullname "John Smith"
 
    looks for any entries with full name "john smith" in the default area.
 
whois smith
 
    how it takes "smith" depends upon the default input-field.
 
whois surname smith -org nyser
 
    looks for any entries with surname "smith" in any organization
    including the string "nyser".
 
 
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whois surname smith -area "@c=US@o=NYSERNet Inc."
 
    looks for any entries with surname "smith" in the area with
    handle "@c=US@o=NYSERNet Inc.".
 
whois mrose@rebel.nyser.net
 
    looks for any entries with mailbox "mrose@rebel.nyser.net"
    in the default area.
 
whois -title operator
 
    looks for any entries who are operators.
 
whois -org *
 
    lists all registered organizations.
 
whois -org * -geo @c=GB
 
    lists all registered organizations in geographic area "@c=GB".
 
 
Example Usage with fred:
 
% fred
...
fred> whois schoffstall -org nyser
Trying @c=US@o=NYSERNet INc. ...
2 matches found.
  2. Marvin Schoffstall                      marv@nisc.nyser.net
  3. Martin Schoffstall                      schoff@nisc.nyser.net
 
fred> whois !3
Martin Schoffstall (3)                       schoff@nisc.nyser.net
    ...
 
fred> quit
%
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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