RFC 2229 (rfc2229) - Page 3 of 30
A Dictionary Server Protocol
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2229 A Dictionary Server Protocol October 1997 The webster protocol is not suitable for providing access to a large number of separate dictionary databases, and extensions to the current webster protocol were not felt to be a clean solution to the dictionary database problem. The DICT protocol is designed to provide access to multiple databases. Word definitions can be requested, the word index can be searched (using an easily extended set of algorithms), information about the server can be provided (e.g., which index search strategies are supported, or which databases are available), and information about a database can be provided (e.g., copyright, citation, or distribution information). Further, the DICT protocol has hooks that can be used to restrict access to some or all of the databases. 1.1. Requirements In this document, we adopt the convention discussed in Section 1.3.2 of [RFC 1122] of using the capitalized words MUST, REQUIRED, SHOULD, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL to define the significance of each particular requirement specified in this document. In brief: "MUST" (or "REQUIRED") means that the item is an absolute requirement of the specification; "SHOULD" (or "RECOMMENDED") means there may exist valid reasons for ignoring this item, but the full implications should be understood before doing so; and "MAY" (or "OPTIONAL") means that his item is optional, and may be omitted without careful consideration. 2. Protocol Overview 2.1. Link Level The DICT protocol assumes a reliable data stream such as provided by TCP. When TCP is used, a DICT server listens on port 2628. This server is only an interface between programs and the dictionary databases. It does not perform any user interaction or presentation-level functions. 2.2. Lexical Tokens Commands and replies are composed of characters from the UCS character set [ISO10646] using the UTF-8 [RFC 2044] encoding. More specifically, using the grammar conventions from [RFC 822]: Faith & Martin Informational
