IRR Types¶

The IRR (Internet Routing Registry) family models APNIC's RPSL (Routing Policy Specification Language) database dumps, published as gzipped text files at https://ftp.apnic.net/apnic/whois/apnic.db.<type>.gz. Each dump contains objects of a single RPSL type; the SDK parses them into a generic IRRObject representation rather than one struct per type.

All types live in models.go; the canonical type list is IRRObjectTypes in irr.go.

Class Diagram¶

classDiagram
    class IRRDatabase {
        +string Type
        +[]IRRObject Objects
    }

    class IRRObject {
        +string Type
        +string PrimaryKey
        +map~string,[]string~ Attributes
    }

    class IRRObjectTypes {
        <<enum of 19 string values>>
        as-block
        as-set
        aut-num
        domain
        filter-set
        inet6num
        inetnum
        inet-rtr
        irt
        key-cert
        limerick
        mntner
        organisation
        peering-set
        role
        route
        route6
        route-set
        rtr-set
    }

    IRRDatabase --> IRRObject
    IRRObject ..> IRRObjectTypes : Type is one of

`IRRObject`¶

A single RPSL object. In the source file the first attribute of an object is its type (e.g. inetnum:) and its value is the object's primary key; the SDK preserves this convention.

Field	Type	Description
`Type`	`string`	RPSL object type, e.g. `"inetnum"`, `"aut-num"`. Always one of `IRRObjectTypes`.
`PrimaryKey`	`string`	Value of the type attribute — the object's unique key within the dump.
`Attributes`	`map[string][]string`	Attribute name → values, in file order. The key attribute is included here as well, so the type name can be looked up under `Attributes[<type>]`. Multi-valued attributes (e.g. `descr`, `mnt-by`) collect every occurrence in slice order.

Continuation lines (lines beginning with whitespace, optionally +) are folded into the preceding attribute's last value, exactly as RPSL specifies.

`IRRDatabase`¶

Holds the parsed objects from one dump.

Field	Type	Description
`Type`	`string`	The object type this database holds (echoes `IRRObject.Type` for every object).
`Objects`	`[]IRRObject`	Parsed RPSL objects, in file order.

The 19 RPSL object types¶

IRRObjectTypes lists every APNIC IRR object type published as a gzipped dump. Pass any of these to FetchIRRDatabase / GetIRRDatabase.

Type	Purpose
`as-block`	A block of AS numbers delegated as a unit.
`as-set`	A named set of AS numbers (used in routing policy).
`aut-num`	An Autonomous System object — routing policy of one AS.
`domain`	A reverse DNS domain (in-addr.arpa / ip6.arpa).
`filter-set`	A named set of route filters.
`inet6num`	An IPv6 address range.
`inetnum`	An IPv4 address range.
`inet-rtr`	An Internet router (router identity + peers).
`irt`	An IR trust object (CERT contact).
`key-cert`	A PGP key certificate.
`limerick`	Legacy object type (mostly historical).
`mntner`	A maintainer object — controls who can modify child objects.
`organisation`	An organization record.
`peering-set`	A named set of peerings.
`role`	A role contact (group, not a person).
`route`	An IPv4 route object (prefix + origin AS).
`route6`	An IPv6 route object.
`route-set`	A named set of routes.
`rtr-set`	A named set of routers.

Parse flow¶

sequenceDiagram
    participant SDK as SDK
    participant FTP as ftp.apnic.net
    participant Parser as parseIRRDatabase

    SDK->>FTP: GET apnic.db.<type>.gz
    FTP-->>SDK: gzip stream
    SDK->>SDK: gzip decompress
    SDK->>Parser: io.Reader + type
    loop each object
        Parser->>Parser: read type attribute (first line)
        Parser->>Parser: capture PrimaryKey = value
        loop each subsequent attribute
            alt continuation line (whitespace/+ prefix)
                Parser->>Parser: fold into previous value
            else new "key: value"
                Parser->>Parser: append to Attributes[key]
            end
        end
        Parser->>Parser: emit IRRObject
    end
    Parser-->>SDK: IRRDatabase{Type, Objects}