= Universal Whois Server

*Author*: Matt Lightner <mailto:mlightner@gmail.com>

*License*: MIT[link:files/LICENSE.html]

*RDoc*: http://universalwhois.rubyforge.org

*RubyForge URL*: http://rubyforge.org/projects/universalwhois

*GitHub URL*: http://github.com/mlightner/universal_ruby_whois/tree/master


This library attempts to interpret WHOIS output from a variety of different registrars.
The ultimate goal is to have a complete "dictionary" of all of the TLD registrars (including
double domain TLDs such as .co.uk) on the Internet, and corresponding regular expressions
to parse the unique output format for each one.

This package requires a command line whois utility to retrieve output.  It will then attempt
to interpret that output based on a series of regular expressions.


=== DEFINING WHOIS SERVERS

Whois servers can be defined on a per-TLD basis, so each registrar can have a unique set
of regular expressions to match its particular output format.  Whois servers are defined in the
file server_list.rb.

If you're using this module and come across a TLD that isn't yet supported or isn't working
quite right, I highly encourage you to fork the project and commit your updates.  The more
people we have working on the list, the more comprehensive and effective it becomes!


=== TLD SEARCH PRIORITY

When deciding which whois server to use, the script will always choose the most specific
server entry it can find.  For instance, if you have defined a server for .uk domains,
but also a server for .co.uk domains, the domain name "test.co.uk" will always use the
latter whois server.


=== EXAMPLE USAGE

Here is the output from a sample IRB session using this library:

  require 'universal_ruby_whois'
  => true
  domain = Whois.find("mattlightner.com")
  => #<Whois::Domain:0xb7a3b014 @domain="mattlightner.com", @server_tld_key="com">
  domain.status
  => :registered
  domain.available?
  => false
  domain.registered?
  => true
  domain.creation_date
  => Mon Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2006
  domain.expiration_date
  => Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 EDT 2009
  domain = Whois.find("9384jf398ejf9832ej.com")            
  => #<Whois::Domain:0xb7a1ab34 @domain="9384jf398ejf9832ej.com", @server_tld_key="com">
  domain.status      
  => :free


=== NOTES

Some registrars are relatively unreliable or may add a server to a blacklist after a certain number of
queries.  In particular, the registrars for these domains:

- es and related TLDs:  They only provide an HTTP whois access interface, which is unreliable at
  best (although this module supports HTTP lookups quite well).
- asn.au com.au id.au net.au org.au: 'whois.aunic.net', seems as though they will blacklist a server
  making too many queries.  Not sure about their blacklist removal policy.


=== TODO

- Add better support for creation date parsing for major registrars.
- Find a more reliable way to look up domains from registrars not providing a whois server.


=== CONTRIBUTIONS

Contribution is encouraged!  Grab the source from: git://github.com/mlightner/universal_ruby_whois.git