DICT
| Communication protocol | |
| Purpose | Allow clients access to remote dictionaries |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | DICT Development Group |
| Introduction | January 1, 1997 |
| OSI layer | Application layer (7) |
| Port(s) | 2628 (TCP) |
| RFC(s) | RFC 2229 A Dictionary Server Protocol |
DICT is a dictionary network protocol created by the DICT Development Group in 1997, described by RFC 2229. Its goal is to surpass the Webster protocol to allow clients to access a variety of dictionaries via a uniform interface.
In section 3.2 of the DICT protocol RFC, queries and definitions are sent in clear-text, meaning that there is no encryption. Nevertheless, according to section 3.1 of the RFC, various forms of authentication (sans encryption) are supported, including Kerberos version 4.
The protocol consists of a few commands a server must recognize so a client can access the available data and lookup word definitions. DICT servers and clients use TCP port 2628 by default. Queries are captured in the following URL scheme:
dict://<user>;<auth>@<host>:<port>/<c>:<word>:<database>:<strategy>:<n>