In message <30545475.6952.1361592063875.javamail.r...@benjamin.baylink.com>, Ja y Ashworth writes: > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Cutler James R" <james.cut...@consultant.com> > > > A domain name without a terminal dot is a relative domain name. > > -- An application requesting name to address translation gets to > > decide if a search list is to be used, including the default of dot. > > > > A domain name with a terminal dot is a Fully Qualified Domain Name. > > -- An application requesting name to address translation must submit > > the name as received to the lookup process. > > > > These definitions have been effective of decades and do not need > > additional terminology. > > -- Faulty implementations are not an excuse for ever more complex > > terminology. > > The authoritative document here is, as Joe Abley noted earlier, RFC 1035, > which says, in section 5.1: > > """ > Domain names that end in a dot are called absolute, and are taken as > complete. Domain names which do not end in a dot are called relative; > the actual domain name is the concatenation of the relative part with > an origin specified in a $ORIGIN, $INCLUDE, or as an argument to the > master file loading routine. A relative name is an error when no > origin is available. > """
Which applies to domain names in master files. > Or, in more Jewish terms: not so much. > > And in fact, I don't believe that you *have* a manual API-level choice > as an application as to whether your resolver library will apply a > search list or not: if you specify an absolute name, it won't; if you > specify a relative name, it will. > > Nope: gethostbyname(3) only takes one argument: char *hostname > > So the only control you have as app is whether you include the trailing > dot. On most platforms it isn't the only control. Not gethostname predates search lists and even heirachical domain named. > (PS: your quoting (or bulleting) protocol is non-standard and non-intuitive) > > Cheers, > -- jra > > > -- > Jay R. Ashworth Baylink j...@baylink.co > m > Designer The Things I Think RFC 210 > 0 > Ashworth & Associates http://baylink.pitas.com 2000 Land Rover DI > I > St Petersburg FL USA #natog +1 727 647 127 > 4 > -- Mark Andrews, ISC 1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742 INTERNET: ma...@isc.org