Are there any limits to the character length of a service nam e in an SRV record?

[Corsa, Todd]

I was looking for help on a question from someone more knowledgeable on the
subject of DNS because, admittedly, I'm not an expert. You're exactly the
type of pompous know-it-all that generally deters people from asking
questions in the first place. Did you reply to my request because you wanted
to help, or because you wanted to show the rest of the world how superior
you are? 

The phrase "domain name" is not specific to DNS, and the fact that this is a
forum regarding DNS doesn't mean that people can't use terms in ways that
aren't explicitly defined in an RFC. If you're incapable of determining what
I meant, then I hardly take that as a sign of intelligence. Rather, you're
just incapable of conversing on a normal level. Perhaps your social skills
need work. 

Furthermore, what makes you think that this phrase 'the name of the service
("_ldap._tcp.example.com" for instance)' as taken directly from 2782 is
okay, but saying 'the service name ("_ldap._tcp.example.com"' isn't? The
difference is so miniscule that only someone that was trying really hard to
correct me would nit-pick it. 

Apparently you were so hurt by your beloved RFC's clarity being questioned
(Mr. "jim at rfc1035.com") that you were going to pick apart everything I said.
Quite frankly, I'd rather not have an answer than have to abide your
condescension, so though I'm sure sure you'll be tempted to boost your
self-esteem by correcting any of my future infelicities, please refrain from
responding at all. Instead, save your game of "Everquest", or whatever it is
you do to protect yourself from the pain of face to face interaction with
other human beings, and use the time you would have spent enlightening me
about life in your little box to instead learn about all of the wonderful
words and phrases that exist outside of your well practiced vocabulary of
techno-babble. It may hurt at first to find out that you don't really know
everything, but eventually, you'll become a better-rounded person. When
you're ready, the rest of us will be here for you to give you a big hug and
welcome you to the world of friendliness and likeability.

Sincerely,
Someone who cares
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Reid
To: Corsa, Todd
Cc: 'bind-users at isc.org '
Sent: 8/31/2004 2:19 PM
Subject: Re: Are there any limits to the character length of a service nam e
in an SRV record?

>>>>> "Todd" == Corsa, Todd <tcorsa at bnl.gov> writes:

    Todd> I'm refering to the entire "_ldap._tcp.example.com" as a
    Todd> "service name" because RFC 2782 does so here:

    Todd> "A reply packet has a 30-byte overhead plus the name of the
    Todd> service ("_ldap._tcp.example.com" for instance)"

RFC2782 says nothing about "service name" (your definition) at all. The
only reference to "service name" in RFC2782 is:

	Currently, the translation from service name to port number
happens
	at the client, often using a file such as /etc/services.

In that context, "service name" is the value of the string represented
by the _Service label. ie The thing that can be looked up in the likes
of /etc/services to get a port number.

    Todd> I think the problem is exactly that you're trying to say
    Todd> that everything served by a DNS server is a domain name
    Todd> ("These service names -- whatever they are -- MUST be domain
    Todd> names in order to be entered into the DNS.") Take the case
    Todd> of a TXT record. Are you saying that the text portion of the
    Todd> record has to be a domain name? 

Of course not. You don't seem to understand there's a distinction
between a domain name and the tuples/data associated with that name.

    Todd> Do you see where I'm going with this?

No I don't. And there's not much point continuing this thread. You're
not using DNS terminology correctly and then want to quibble about
the way you've defined the semantics of those terms. This is pointless.

    Todd> So when I refer to the "example.com" as a domain name, think
    Todd> of it in the global "IT" sense. 

I have no idea what this means. Probably nobody other than you does.
No, don't bother enlightening us. This thread has run its course.

    Todd> It's the name of a domain. Meanwhile "_ldap._tcp.example.com" 
    Todd> is not the name of a domain.

Yes it is. All names in the DNS are domain names. By definition they
must therefore be the name of some domain.