FYI Combining URLs and WPS

["Erik Huizer (SURFnet BV)" <[e-mail]>]

Below you'll finsd an interesting start for a way to use URLs in a
heterogenous White Pages Directory Service. It is my intention to try to
combine this kind of work, with other efforts that are going on (Simon S.'s,
PAP's, etc) to get a framework architecture for the "common" ground on which
various WPS DS can blossom (Internet X.500 and whois++ for example). I now
have problems in following all related discussions on this, that take place
on the lists in the header of this mail. I am therefore proposing the
following, I create yet another list, [e-mail] (to subscribe, send
mail to [e-mail]), to which I hope all of you will subscribe,
that discusses specifically the White Pages service infrastructure, to try
and determine what aspects we can define as common ground. For those aspects
that come out that we get concensus on that they are common ground, we will
assign the tasks of developing to existing (IETF or RARE) WGs or spin off 
new WGs.

The list will hopefully cater for some discussion up to SEATTLE, and I
intend to wrap up with a BOF on this subject early in the SEATTLE week, so
that we can start working on the various aspects later on that same week.

The WPS list and BOF is not meant for detailed technical discussions about
aspects of a protocol, but rather to establish the framework architecture.
The list should be disbandoned shortly after Seattle, after which the
detailed discussions will take place in the various assigned groups.

The effort by Mike et al. seems to me to provide a basis that will guarantee
a fruitfull discussion.  

Thanks,
Erik


------- Forwarded Message
Date:    Tue, 11 Jan 94 01:35:23 -0700
From:    Mike Schwartz <[e-mail]>
Subject: Netfind now interoperates with X.500, WHOIS, and PH

Based on ideas suggested by Marshall at the November '93 Houston
x500future meeting, I have modified Netfind so that remote sites can
register a set of white pages service Uniform Resource Locators in their
DNS servers to tell Netfind how to search there.  Based on this
mechanism, Netfind can now interoperate with X.500, WHOIS, and PH, and
can also allow sites to tune which hosts Netfind uses for SMTP or
Finger, or restrict Netfind from searching their site entirely.  For
more information on how to set up these URLs in your DNS server,
retrieve the file pub/cs/distribs/netfind/Netfind.WP.URLs from
ftp.cs.colorado.edu.

There is a new paper that describes the above mechanism, focusing
particularly on Netfind's data gathering framework and algorithms.  It
is available by anonymous FTP from ftp.cs.colorado.edu, in
pub/cs/techreports/schwartz/PostScript/Netfind.Gathering.ps.Z or
pub/cs/techreports/schwartz/ASCII/Netfind.Gathering.txt.Z.
 - Mike

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