[seanWTC]

hi all i am trying to set up a website in witch a user can search for their desired domain name using a search box
and be told if it is available and with what file extension.

i have searched all over the net including you tube and various dev forms for some sort of tutorial or information on how to do this and have found nothing other that adverts for hosting companies.

does anyone know where i can find this information or a tutorial if possible.

many thanks


SeanWTC

[modi123_1]

... are you trying to run your own domain name purchasing site?

[jon.kiparsky]

Quote

and be told if it is available and with what file extension.

File extension? You mean maybe the top-level domain? So you want to be able to type "foobarbaz" into a search box and get back a list of "foobarbaz.fi", "foobarbaz.co.uk", etc, but not foobarbaz.com which is taken?

The naive approach would be to take the proposed domain name, generate a list of
[domain+tld for tld in ListOfTopLevelDomains]

then do a DNS query.

I have no idea what sort of gotchas might lurk in the query process, though. For example, I don't know if there's any standard format for responses - this is just off the top of my head.
Hope it helps steer you towards something.

[no2pencil]

modi123_1, on 01 November 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

... are you trying to run your own domain name purchasing site?

This would be handled through the API of (whatever) domain name registrar.

So much ambiguity in this one, yay!

[seanWTC]

thanks for your comments guys and thanks jon that is exactly what im trying to build i will research DNS query's and post any info i find on here for other people who may 0have the same issue. yes i am trying to run my own domain name purchasing site as i already sell hosting.

Regards

Sean

[jon.kiparsky]

There's a utility called "dig" which you might look into.

From the man page:

Quote

DIG(1) BIND9 DIG(1)

NAME
dig - DNS lookup utility

SYNOPSIS
dig [@server] [-b address] [-c class] [-f filename] [-k filename] [-m]
[-p port#] [-q name] [-t type] [-x addr] [-y [hmac:]name:key] [-4]
[-6] [name] [type] [class] [queryopt...]

dig [-h]

dig [global-queryopt...] [query...]

DESCRIPTION
dig (domain information groper) is a flexible tool for interrogating
DNS name servers. It performs DNS lookups and displays the answers that
are returned from the name server(s) that were queried. Most DNS
administrators use dig to troubleshoot DNS problems because of its
flexibility, ease of use and clarity of output. Other lookup tools tend
to have less functionality than dig.

A bit of experimentation suggests that if you see an "AUTHORITY SECTION" the domain is not assigned, but if you see an "ANSWER SECTION" someone's pointing it at something.

Again, though, I've never even thought about this question before today. If anyone with more experience chimes in, they're the ones you should listen to.

[seanWTC]

thanks again jon you comments are much appreciated.

regards

<SeAn-D/>