whois.1 revision c10c16dec587a0662068f6e2991c29ed3a9db943
te
Copyright 1989 AT&T Copyright (c) 1992, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE. If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
whois 1 "6 Nov 2000" "SunOS 5.11" "User Commands"
NAME
whois - Internet user name directory service
SYNOPSIS

whois [-h host] identifier
DESCRIPTION

whois searches for an Internet directory entry for an identifier which is either a name (such as ``Smith'') or a handle (such as ``SRI-NIC''). To force a name-only search, precede the name with a period; to force a handle-only search, precede the handle with an exclamation point.

To search for a group or organization entry, precede the argument with * (an asterisk). The entire membership list of the group will be displayed with the record.

You may of course use an exclamation point and asterisk, or a period and asterisk together.

EXAMPLES

Example 1 Using The whois Command

The command:

example% whois Smith

looks for the name or handle SMITH.

The command:

example% whois !SRI-NIC

looks for the handle SRI-NIC only.

The command:

example% whois .Smith, John

looks for the name JOHN SMITH only.

Adding .\|.\|. to the name or handle argument will match anything from that point; that is, ZU .\|.\|. will match ZUL, ZUM, and so on.

SEE ALSO

attributes(5)