Dear Ian,
[Apologies for duplicate mails]
Dear Colleagues,
On 1 August 2007, the following changes will be made to the default behaviour for IP queries of the RIPE Database:
* The "-c" flag behaviour will become the default for all IP queries. This means that when querying an IP address or range, any query not containing the "-L", "-l", "-M", "-m" or "-x" flags will, by default, return the IRT object referenced by the closest less specific inet(6)num (if such a reference exists).
* A new "-C" flag will be implemented to provide the old behaviour and ensure backwards compatibility.
The behaviour of the "-c" flag itself will not change, nor will there be any change for those queries that include other IP flags ("-L", "-l", "-M", "-m" or "-x").
Please adjust any software that you maintain that queries the RIPE Database and relies on this behaviour.
Does the existing behaviour with the "-r" flag continue as is? I'd guess so, but it isn't covered by the above...
Yes, the behaviour of the "-r" flag will stay as it is. -- Katie Petrusha RIPE NCC