A Service of Softnik Technologies

Frequently Asked Questions

Whenever I add one domain to the portfolio, the lookup queue gets two entries!

When you add a domain to the database, it will be automatically queued for two types of lookups. One for finding the domain records (whois) and one for finding it's default IP address. If the domain uses a thin whois, number of actual whois lookups will be two (one to the registry and one to the registrar).

If you don't want the automatic IP address (DNS) checked when you add a domain, you can disable it in the Lookup Options tab of the Basic App Setup.

Domain Table doesn't display the expiry dates (or some other column)!

To find the problem, first check if the domain whois has been already completed. You can click on the domain row and then examine the lower panel tab for 'raw registry whois'. Check if there is any entry there. If there is nothing there, please wait a while for the whois lookups to complete. You can refresh the domain table by clicking the 'refresh' icon in the toolbar at the foot of the table.

If there is a valid raw registry whois text, look through it to locate the expiry date there. If the expiry date is missing from the raw whois text, the application can't extract it. The only solution is to manually enter the data into the database. You can do this using the 'edit' toolbar button.

If the information is present in the raw whois, but is not getting extracted, you should setup the proper extraction tokens in whois setup. If you have any problems with this, simply send us a sample domain name and we will provide you the exact configuration settings.

Why is the registrar expiry date column empty for some of my domains?

The registrar expiry date column will be empty for most country code domains and generic TLDs (other than COM and NET). This is because most whois databases use the "thick model".

Thick and Thin Models

The whois databases are operated based on a thick model or a thin model. In the thick model, one whois server provides all the data corresponding to the domains. This model is used by ORG, BIZ, INFO, etc.

In the thin model there are two whois servers. The first whois server (at the registry) provides only the basic details regarding a domain. It then points to the actual whois server that can provide full authoritative information. The second whois server (maintained by the registrar) has to be queried to get all the relevant data.

The thin model is used by .com , .net and some other registries. So, for these domains there are two different whois queries. Hence there are two different expiry dates too. In 99% of the cases these two expiry dates will be the same (or differ by just one day). However, in some cases this will be different.

Different expiry dates may mean that the registrant has not renewed the domain (the registrar may be keeping the domain on hold) or that there is a problem. For your own domains, you should contact the registrar to fix any discrepancies.

Blank Registrar Expiry Column

For registries that use the thick model (org, biz, info, etc.) and for most ccTLDs (country code TLDs), the software will only display the registry expiry dates. The registrar expiry column will be blank. Some ccTLDs do use the thin model (example: TV).

For registries that use the thin model, the software will display expiry dates corresponding to the two whois servers. These are labeled registry expiry and registrar expiry.