Dru has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Monks,

I'm wanting to use Net::Whois::IP but I'm not sure how to obtain the data after doing the query. Here is what the documentation states: 
use Net::Whois::IP qw(whoisip_query);

  my $ip = "192.168.1.1";
#Response will be a reference to a hash containing all information
#provided by the whois registrar
#The array_of_responses is a reference to an array containing referenc
+es
#to hashes containing each level of query done.  For example,
#many records have to be searched several times to
#get to the correct information, this array contains the responses
#from each level
  my ($response,$array_of_responses) = whoisip_query($ip);

[download]
I have to admit, I'm not too clear on references even after reading perlref. I would most appreciate any assistance the monastary might be able to provide.

Thanks,
-Dru

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Help Dereferencing Net::Whois::IP
by castaway (Parson) on Jun 20, 2003 at 12:33 UTC
    Taking the hash reference, turning it into a hash, and looping through the hash should do it, something like this: 
    my ($response,$array_of_responses) = whoisip_query($ip);
my %hresponse = %{$response};
while (my ($key, $value) = each %hresponse) 
{
    print "value of $key is $value\n";
}

    [download]

    Does that help?
    C.

[reply]
[d/l]
      You can avoid the temporary here: 
      my ($response,$array_of_responses) = whoisip_query($ip);
while (my ($key, $value) = each %$response) 
{
    print "value of $key is $value\n";
}

      [download]

      Makeshifts last the longest.

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Help Dereferencing Net::Whois::IP
by bobn (Chaplain) on Jun 20, 2003 at 12:55 UTC
    When trying to decode an object retured to you, Data::Dumper can be your best friend.

    In this case, 
             use Net::Whois::IP qw(whoisip_query);
         use Data::Dumper;

         my $ip = "192.168.1.1";

         my ($response,$array_of_responses) = whoisip_query($ip);
        print '$response is: ', Dumper( $response );
        print '$array_of_responses is: ', Dumper( $array_of_responses)
+;

    [download]
    reslt is: 
    $response is: $VAR1 = {
          'OrgTechName' => 'Internet Corporation for Assigned Names an
+d Number ',
          'NameServer' => 'BLACKHOLE-2.IANA.ORG',
          'Country' => 'US',
          'PostalCode' => '90292-6695',
          'OrgTechEmail' => 'res-ip@iana.org',
          'RegDate' => '1994-03-15',
          'NetHandle' => 'NET-192-168-0-0-1',
          'NetName' => 'IANA-CBLK1',
          'OrgTechPhone' => '+1-310-823-9358',
          'City' => 'Marina del Rey',
          'OrgName' => 'Internet Assigned Numbers Authority ',
          'Comment' => ' ',
          'Address' => '4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330',
          'OrgTechHandle' => 'IANA-ARIN',
          'NetType' => 'IANA Special Use',
          'CIDR' => '192.168.0.0/16 ',
          'StateProv' => 'CA',
          'Updated' => '2002-09-16',
          'OrgID' => 'IANA',
          'NetRange' => '192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 ',
          'Parent' => 'NET-192-0-0-0-0'
        };
$array_of_responses is: $VAR1 = undef;

    [download]
    The 'Var1 =' is just window-dressing added by Data::Dumper. The rest of the output looks like a hash, but is conatinined in {} rather than (), so it is a reference to hash. hence it is dereferenceed with ->. So to get the Tech contact's email, you'd say: 
    print "Tech contact's email is $response->{OrgTechEmail}\n";

    [download]
    Unfortunately, the keys in the hash erference are different depending on the registrar - using my IP address, I return a hashref where the Tech contact' email is accessed by: 
    print "Tech contact's email is $response->{TechEmail}\n";

    [download]


    --Bob Niederman, http://bob-n.com
[reply]
[d/l]
[select]
      Wow, Data::Dumper rocks, thanks Bob and to the others for your response.
[reply]
Re: Help Dereferencing Net::Whois::IP
by ScooterQ (Pilgrim) on Jun 20, 2003 at 12:38 UTC
    Are you just looking to get a handle on dereferencing? If so, perhaps this will help: $reponse is a reference to a hash - a hash "thingy". $array_of_responses is an array "thingy". Perhaps the simplest way to get your head around it is to think of it like this: 
    my ($response,$array_of_responses) = whoisip_query($ip);

%resp_hash = %$response; 
@resp_array = @$array_of_responses;

    [download]
    At this point you have the regular ol' hash and array like you're used to dealing with. Now, of course, you could have skipped the additional assignment and done things in a more direct manner, working with the de-referenced hash and array rather than copying them like I did, but this slightly more verbose manner is the way I was first able to understand references and de-referencing.

    HTH.
[reply]
[d/l]

Back to Seekers of Perl Wisdom