resolv.rb - documentation and its name

[Minkoo Seo]

Hi group.

I'd like to test resolve.rb, but I have troubles.

First of all, where can I get some documents on resolv.rb? I use
http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib, but there's none.

Second of all, why is it named resolve instead of Net:NS? It doesn't
seem to be good choice to me. Don't you think this is incoherent?

Sincerely,
Minkoo Seo

 

[Daniel Berger]

Hi group.

I'd like to test resolve.rb, but I have troubles.

First of all, where can I get some documents on resolv.rb? I use
http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib, but there's none.

Second of all, why is it named resolve instead of Net:NS? It doesn't
seem to be good choice to me. Don't you think this is incoherent?

Sincerely,
Minkoo Seo

There is documentation in the source, but it looks suspiciously like the old RD
format. Perhaps that explains why ruby-doc didn't pick it up.

There's also this project:

http://rubyforge.org/projects/net-dns/

However, there hasn't been a release yet.

Regards,

Dan

 

[Eric Hodel]

First of all, where can I get some documents on resolv.rb? I use
http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib, but there's none.

The head branch of Ruby has resolv.rb documentation in RDoc format:

$ ri19 Resolv

---------------------------------------------------------- Class: Resolv
Resolv is a thread-aware DNS resolver library written in Ruby.
Resolv can handle multiple DNS requests concurrently without
blocking. The ruby interpreter.

See also resolv-replace.rb to replace the libc resolver with #
Resolv.

Resolv can look up various DNS resources using the DNS module
directly.
[...]

Second of all, why is it named resolve instead of Net:NS? It doesn't
seem to be good choice to me. Don't you think this is incoherent?

Resolv is not just a DNS resolver. It also reads from /etc/hosts.

 

[Minkoo Seo]

First of all, where can I get some documents on resolv.rb? I use
http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib, but there's none.

The head branch of Ruby has resolv.rb documentation in RDoc format:

$ ri19 Resolv

---------------------------------------------------------- Class: Resolv
Resolv is a thread-aware DNS resolver library written in Ruby.
Resolv can handle multiple DNS requests concurrently without
blocking. The ruby interpreter.

See also resolv-replace.rb to replace the libc resolver with #
Resolv.

Resolv can look up various DNS resources using the DNS module
directly.
[...]

Second of all, why is it named resolve instead of Net:NS? It doesn't
seem to be good choice to me. Don't you think this is incoherent?

Resolv is not just a DNS resolver. It also reads from /etc/hosts.

--
Eric Hodel - (e-mail address removed) - http://blog.segment7.net
This implementation is HODEL-HASH-9600 compliant

http://trackmap.robotcoop.com

Thank you. This will be of great help.

But, as you quoted, resolve.rb says "Resolv is a thread-aware DNS
resolver library written in Ruby", so it is DNS resolver and I accuse
resolve.rb of misnomer because it does not follow Net::xxx rules.
Futhermore, reading /etc/hosts does not justify its name, because I
believe that its name, resolve, was named after DNS resolver. (BTW, do
you really think reading /etc/hosts is not related to dns resolver's
own job?)

Actually lack of naming coherency in Ruby is quite annoying more often
than not.

Sincerely,
Minkoo Seo

 

[Eric Hodel]

Thank you. This will be of great help.

You're welcome. I converted it from RD to RDoc.

But, as you quoted, resolve.rb says "Resolv is a thread-aware DNS
resolver library written in Ruby", so it is DNS resolver and I accuse
resolve.rb of misnomer because it does not follow Net::xxx rules.
Futhermore, reading /etc/hosts does not justify its name, because I
believe that its name, resolve, was named after DNS resolver. (BTW, do
you really think reading /etc/hosts is not related to dns resolver's
own job?)

Actually lack of naming coherency in Ruby is quite annoying more often
than not.

The DNS portion of Resolv should probably go under Net, but it has
broader functionality than just DNS resolution. Resolv is a good
name for the glue that the library provides between DNS and /etc/
hosts, along with the automatic configuration.