Using the Overbite Add-ons for finger and whois (Gopher URLs)
-------------------------------------------------------------

Overbite can subsume certain other protocols under the gopher:// handler by
manipulating the URL rather than any special logic. A gopher URL is
broken down into the following major components:

        gopher://host.name.invalid:70/1/the/selector
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                 \--------+------/ || |\-----+-----/
                          |        || |      |
    host name ------------+        || |      +-- selector
        port number ---------------++ +------- item type

The host name and port number designate the server to connect to, and the
TCP port to use. The item type is always one character, and is immediately
followed by the selector string, which is server-specific and is transmitted
directly to the server as is (in this case ``/the/selector'').

By changing the selector string and the port number, we can make Overbite
"speak" other protocols. Specifically supported are the finger and whois
protocols (other protocols may be possible, although Overbite or your browser
may restrict the port numbers you can use and/or the command strings you can
send).

To make a finger request to a server, you will make the URL point to port 79,
use an item type of 0 (to specify raw text), and use the desired request as
the selector. For example,

        gopher://floodgap.com:79/0gopher

will finger gopher@floodgap.com and report where the mail alias is sent. The
selector can be blank, but many finger servers will not respond to a null
query.

To make a whois request to a server, you will make the URL point to port 43,
use an item type of 0 (to specify raw text), and use the desired request as
the selector. For example,

	gopher://org.whois-servers.net:43/0mozilla.org

will query for the registration information for mozilla.org. Most whois
servers will not respond to a null query.

These URLs are advantageous in that other browsers that support Gopher will
also support these kinds of requests as a natural consequence of the way
Gopher URLs are formed, assuming that those browsers have not blocked
access to ports 43 or 79.



.