Adding Recursion Available bit to name_query and node_status_query

[Christopher R. Hertel]

Richard Sharpe wrote:
:
> > > Any objections?
> >
> > Nope.
> 
> Actually, I was thinking that it would be useful to return the entire
> set of flags.
> 
> This might be better than returning just one of them.
> 
> Any further thoughts?

Well, you've got me thinking (always a dangerous thing to do).  There
are three things that came to mind:

1) It would be nice to see the flags on the outgoing packet as well
   as the repl[y|ies].

2) It might make sense produce this output on debug level 1, rather
   than by default.  Or perhaps incoming flags at -d1 and both sets
   at -d2.

3) It would also be nice to see the RCode value in any error message
   received (we may already provide the diagnostics).

For those just tuning in from home, here's a rundown of the flag
values we are talking about:

R  - Reply bit.
     This should always be set on packets received by nmblookup.  It
     would be an error if it wasn't.

OpCode - Operation Code.
     Always 0x00 for queries (which is what nmblookup sends).

AA - Authoritative Answer.
     Likewise.  I *think* that the AA flag is a hold-over from the
     DNS system (the basis for the NBT Name Service).

     I would love to see this reported, however, because I am
     wondering whether WINS Proxies (does anyone still use those?)
     leave this bit clear.

TC - Truncation flag.
     No one has, to my knowledge, ever implemented truncated Name
     Service packets.  According to the RFCs, if you get a packet
     with the TC bit set, the you can negotiate the use of TCP.
     (Yes, that would be TCP on port 137.  No one ever implemented
     that, as far as I know.)  I believe that all implementations
     ignore this bit (though I've not tested to see what Windows
     does if this is set).  I would be very surprised to see this
     bit set.

RD - Recursion Desired.
     Only has meaning in request messages.  Used to indicate that
     the NBNS (WINS) server should be consulted.

     There is a lengthy discussion of all of this in section 3.4.3.2
     of my docs.  The RD bit is used heavily to distinguish between
     requests, queries, and demands.  In reply messages, however, its
     state is (probably) not significant at all.  My guess is that it
     will typically match the state of the RD bit in the request.

RA - Recursion Available.
     Should only be set in messages which come from the NBNS (WINS)
     server itself.  Note that a machine that is running WINS will
     also have a local name table.  If the reply comes from the
     local name table, then RA should be clear even if the same node
     is running the NBNS (WINS) server.

B  - Broadcast bit.
     Set when the packet is being sent as a broadcast.  Interesting
     to play with this bit, particularly in conjunction with the RD
     bit.

RCode - Result code.
     0 for success, else an error code.

Chris -)-----

-- 
Christopher R. Hertel -)-----                   University of Minnesota
crh at nts.umn.edu              Networking and Telecommunications Services