Getting Detailed Information About a Domain

Synopsis

Description:A command to retrieve detailed information about a domain name.
URL:http://toolkit.centralnic.com/srv/wwwhois
HTTP Method:GET
Requires Authentication?:No
Requires SSL?:No
 
Query Parameters:
testThe test flag (eg 1 or 0, optional)
domainThe domain name (eg "example.uk.com")

This command provides the same information as the normal RFC954 whois system, but in an easily parseable format.

Response Format

The output of this command has the form

Query-status: 0
domain: example.uk.com
registrant: Example Company Ltd
chandle: userid=H12345::name=John Doe::email=domains@example.uk.com::company=Example Company Ltd::addr=123 Example Street, London::street1=123 Example Street::street2=::street3=::city=London::sp=::postcode=NL6 4PQ::country=UK::tel=020 712 3456::fax=020 712 3457
thandle: userid=H12345::name=John Doe::email=names@example.net.uk::company=Hostmaster::addr=Example Internet, 123 Example Street, London::street1=Example Internet::street2=123 Example Street::street3=::city=London::sp=::postcode=NL6 4PQ::country=UK::tel=020 712 3456:fax=020 712 3457
bhandle: userid=H12345::name=John Doe::email=names@example.net.uk::company=Hostmaster::addr=Example Internet, 123 Example Street, London::street1=Example Internet::street2=123 Example Street::street3=::city=London::sp=::postcode=NL6 4PQ::country=UK::tel=020 712 3456::fax=020 712 3457
created: 1997-07-30
expires: 2001-07-30
status: live
dns: dns.example.co.uk::195.82.96.40
dns: ns1.example.co.uk::195.82.96.6

The following fields will always appear in the output (assuming a successful query):

Query-status
domain
registrant
chandle
thandle
bhandle
created
status

The following fields may appear in the output, depending on the data stored for the domain or the status of the query:

Message
expires
dns

The output format uses a simple name: value system with additional fields within the data delimited by a double colon.

Format of the Handle Field

Within the data of the handle row, extra fields have a name=value format identifying each component of the handle data.

Handle Field Names

userid
email
name
addr
street1
street2
street3
city
sp
postcode
country
phone
fax

The street1. street2. street3. city and sp fields may be empty if the handle in question is "old-style" and has a flat address (which will appear in addr).

Queries for domains with "hidden" handles

Some of the handles in our database have elected to have their contact details hidden in WHOIS records. In such cases, the only field shown will be userid. If you are the Billing Handle for the domain, then you are probably also the "sponsor" for any handles associated with it, in which case you can query the information for the handle using the handle_info command.

Queries against non-existent, invalid, banned or reserved domains

Attempting to query a non-existent domain will result in the following response:

Query-status: 1
Message: non-existent domain