    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Network Working Group                                     K. Harrenstien
    Request for Comments: 742                                         SRI-KL
    NIC: 42758                                              30 December 1977

                                  NAME/FINGER

    Introduction

       This note describes the Name/Finger protocol.  This is a simple
       protocol which provides an interface to the Name and Finger programs
       at several network sites.  These programs return a friendly,
       human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment or a
       particular person in depth.  Currently only the SAIL (SU-AI), SRI
       (SRI-(KA/KL)), and ITS (MIT-(AI/ML/MC/DMS)) sites support this
       protocol, but there are other systems with similar programs that
       could easily be made servers; there is no required format and the
       protocol consists mostly of specifying a single "command line".

    To use via the network:

       ICP to socket 117 (octal, 79. decimal) and establish two 8-bit
       connections.

       Send a single "command line", ending with <CRLF>.

       Receive information which will vary depending on the above line and
       the particular system.  The server closes its connections as soon as
       this output is finished.

    The command line:

       Systems may differ in their interpretations of this line.  However,
       the basic scheme is straightforward:  if the line is null (i.e. just
       a <CRLF> is sent) then the server should return a "default" report
       which lists all people using the system at that moment.  If on the
       other hand a user name is specified (e.g. FOO<CRLF>) then the
       response should concern only that particular user, whether logged in
       or not.

       Both ITS and SAIL sites allow several names to be included on the
       line, separated by commas; but the syntax for some servers can be
       slightly more elaborate.  For example, if "/W" (called the "Whois
       switch") also appears on the line given to an ITS server, much fuller
       descriptions are returned.  The complete documentation may be found
       at any time in the files ".INFO.;NAME ORDER" on MIT-AI,
       "FINGER.LES[UP,DOC]" on SU-AI, and "<DOCUMENTATION>FINGER.DOC" on

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Name/Finger

       SRI-KL, all freely accessible by FTP (with the exception of SRI-KL,
       where TOPS-20 requires the "anonymous" login convention).

       Allowable "names" in the command line should of course include "user
       names" or "login names" as defined by the system, but it is also
       reasonable to understand last names or even full names as well.  If a
       name is ambiguous, all possible derivations should be returned in
       some fashion; SAIL will simply list the possible names and no more,
       whereas an ITS server will furnish the full standard information for
       each possibility.

    Response to null command line - "default" listing:

       This is a request for a list of all online users, much like a TOPS-10
       or TENEX "systat".  To fulfill the basic intent of the Name/Finger
       programs, the returned list should include at least the full names of
       each user and the physical locations of their terminals insofar as
       they can be determined.  Including the job name and idle time (number
       of minutes since last typein, or since last job activity) is also
       reasonable and useful.  The appendix has examples which demonstrate
       how this information can be formatted.

    Response to non-null command line - "name" listing:

       For in-depth status of a specified user, there are two main cases.
       If the user is logged in, a line or two is returned in the same
       format as that for the "default" listing, but showing only that user.
       If not logged in, things become more interesting.  Furnishing the
       full name and time of last logout is the expected thing to do, but
       there is also a "plan" feature, wherein a user may leave a short
       message that will be included in the response to such requests.  This
       is easily implemented by (for example) having the program look for a
       specially named text file on the user's directory or some common
       area.  See the examples for typical "plans".

    Implementation miscellany:

       Anyone wishing to implement such a server is encouraged to get in
       touch with the maintainers of NAME by sending a message to BUG-NAME @
       MIT-AI;  apart from offering advice and help, a list of all sites
       with such servers is kept there.  It is also suggested that any
       existing programs performing similar functions locally (i.e. not as
       net servers) be extended to allow specification of other sites, or
       names at other sites.  For example, on ITS systems one can say
       ":NAME<cr>" for a local default listing, or ":NAME @SAIL<cr>" for
       SAIL's default listing, or ":NAME Foo@MC<cr>" to ask MIT-MC about
       Foo's status, etc.

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Name/Finger

       It should be noted that connecting directly to the server from a TIP
       or an equally narrow-minded TELNET-protocol user program can result
       in meaningless attempts at option negotiation being sent to the
       server, which will foul up the command line interpretation unless the
       server knows enough to filter out IAC's and perhaps even respond
       negatively (IAC WON'T) to all option commands received.  This is a
       convenience but is not at all required, since normally the user side
       is just an extended NAME/FINGER type program.

    And finally a little background:

       The FINGER program at SAIL, written by Les Earnest, was the
       inspiration for the NAME program on ITS.  Earl Killian at MIT and
       Brian Harvey at SAIL were jointly responsible for implementing the
       protocol just described, and Greg Hinchliffe has recently brought up
       a similar server for SRI-KA and SRI-KL.

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Appendix - Examples

                                    EXAMPLES

    Note: it is possible for some lines of the actual output to exceed 80
    chars in length.  The handling of such lines is of course dependant on
    the particular user program; in these examples, lines have been
    truncated to 72 chars for greater clarity.

                    Three examples with a null command line:

    Site: MIT-AI
    Command line:

    -User-   --Full name--          Jobnam Idle TTY -Console location-
    XGP    O Xerox Graphics Printer XGPSPL      T24 Datapoint Near XGP (9TH)
    FFM    U Steven J. Kudlak       HACTRN      T41 Net site CMU-10A
    KLH    + Ken Harrenstien        F           T42 Net site SRI-KL
    ___013 -  Not Logged In         HACTRN 1:26.T43 DSSR UNIX x3-6048 (MIT-*
    CWH    U Carl W. Hoffman        E         4.T50 919 Very Small Data Bas*
    CARL   A Carl Hewitt            HACTRN 5:03.T52 813 Hewitt x5873
    APD    M Alexander Doohovskoy   XGP    1:52.T54 912 9th Floor Lounge x6*
    JJK    T James Koschella        E           T55 824 Hollerbach, Levin, *
    KEN    L Kenneth Kahn           E           T56 925 Moon (Tycho under) *

    Site: SAIL
    Command line:

         Person          Job Jobnam Idle    Terminal
    DAN Dan Sleator       46 MACLSP      DM-3         150/1200 modem 415 49*
    DEK Don Knuth          3 E        3. tv-55  205   Library
                          20 PI       2  TV-55  205   Library
    ES  Gene Salamin      44 SD MC       TV-40  223a  Farmwald
    JJ  Jerrold Ginsparg  11 TELNET      DM-0         150/1200 modem 415 49*
    JMC John McCarthy      1 FINGER    . detached
                          12 E        2. IML-15       McCarthy's house
    KRD Randy Davis       42 AID      7  TV-52  203   Allen
    LES Les Earnest       23 TEMPS    2. DM-1         150/1200 modem 415 49*
    ME  Martin Frost      17 E        3  tv-46  220   Filman, Frost
                          31 E           TV-46  220   Filman, Frost
    PAM Paul Martin        9 E           TV-106 251C  King, Levy, Martin
    ROD Rod Brooks        37 MACLSP   3  TV-117 250C
    RWG Bill Gosper       30 SD MC       TV-34  230e  Robinson
                                         TV-67  213   Kant, McCune, Steinbe*
    RWW Richard Weyhrauch 39 E           TV-42  214   Weyhrauch
    SYS system files       6 FINGER      PTY122       job 5 Arpanet site AI*

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Appendix - Examples

    Site: SRI-KL
    Command line:

    Thursday, 15-Dec-77 01:21:24-PST  System up  3 Days, 22:20:52  28 Jobs
    Drum   0%  Load avs 0.26 0.23 0.31   14 Act, 10 Idle,  8 Det

    User    Personal Name     Job Subsys 15m%  TTY  Room   Console Location
    BLEAN   Bob Blean          37 EXEC    0.0   41  K2007  Blean
    KLH     Ken Harrenstien    83 TELNET  1.6   12  J2023  Spaceport
    KREMERS Jan Kremers        48 TECO    0.0  121  Dialup 326-7005 (300 Ba*
    MAINT   Digital Equipment  54 SNDMSG  0.5   43  K2035  Melling
    MCCLURG Jim McClurg        40 EXEC    0.0   26  PKT
    MMCM    Michael McMahon    31 EXEC    1.5  122  Dialup 326-7006 (300 Ba*
    MOORE   J Moore            52 TV      0.2  124  Dialup 326-7008 (300 Ba*
    PATTIS  Richard Pattis     19 LISP    0.8   11  ARC
    PETERSO Norman Peterson    33 EXEC   25:12 234         (RAND-TIP)
    STONE   Duane Stone        34 TELNET 3:51  240         (RADC-TIP)
                               27 EXEC   7:11  232         (SRI-KL)
    TORRES  Israel Torres      64 BSYS    0.0   76  K2079  TI by tape drives
                               68 EXEC   1:15  104  K2029  Operators' Office

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Appendix - Examples

                         Examples with names specified:

    Site: MIT-AI
    Command line: klh

    KLH    + Ken Harrenstien        Last logout 10/16/77 13:02:11  No plan.

    Site: MIT-MC
    Command line: cbf

    CBF    M Charles Frankston      Not logged in.  Plan:
      I'll be visiting another planet til about December 15.  If anyone
      wants to get a hold of me transmit on some fundamental wavelength
      (like the radius of the hydrogen atom).

    Site: MIT-MC
    Command line: smith

    BRIAN  A Brian C. Smith         Last logout 11/24/77 08:02:24  No plan.
    DBS    T David B. Smith         Last logout 12/03/77 11:24:01  No plan.
    BPS    T Byron Paul Smith       Not logged in.  No plan.
    GRS    U Gary R. Smith          Last logout 12/12/77 18:43:19  No plan.
    JOS    S Julius Orion III Smith Last logout 11/29/77 06:18:18  No plan.
    $PETE  M PETER G. SMITH,        Not logged in.  No plan.
    IAN    L Ian C. Smith           Not logged in.  No plan.
    AJS    D Arnold J. Smith        Last logout 12/09/77 14:31:11  No plan.

    Site: SU-AI
    Command line: smith

    "SMITH" is ambiguous:
    RS  Bob Smith
    DAV Dave Smith
    JOS Julius Smith
    LCS Leland Smith

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    NWG/RFC# 742                                  KLH 30-Dec-77 08:31  42758
    Appendix - Examples

    Site: SU-AI
    Command line: jbr

         Person          Job Jobnam Idle Line  Room   Location
    JBR Jeff Rubin        16 COPY    27. TV-43  222   Rubin
                                         TV-104 233   hand-eye table

    Site: SU-AI
    Command line: bh

         Person               Last logout
    BH  Brian Harvey      22:49 on 14 Dec 1977.  Plan:
        ^O08-Oct-77  2156   BH  ^Y12257 (1-Jul-78)
    Weekdays during the day I'm usually unreachable; I'm either at S.F.
    State or at Benjamin Franklin JHS in San Francisco, but neither place
    is recommended for leaving messages.  Evenings and weekends I'm
    generally home (55) 751-1762 unless I'm at SAIL.  I log in daily from
    home.

    Site: SRI-KL
    Command line: greg

    GREG (Greg Hinchliffe) is on the system:

    Job Subsys  # Siz  Runtime    1m%  15m%  TTY  Room   Console Location
    62  EXEC    1   0  0:00:10.6        0.8  235         (SUMEX-AIM)

    Last login: Mon 12-Dec-77, 15:05, from SUMEX-AIM (Host #56.)
    GREG has no new mail, last read on Mon 12-Dec-77 15:10

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