Simple Nomenclator Query Protocol (SNQP)

The Simple Nomenclator Query Protocol (SNQP) allows a client to communicate with a descriptive name service or other relational-style query service. The protocol is useful to services that search many data repositories for query responses. Clients can pose queries on relations, list descriptions of relations, and obtain advice on reducing the search time and cost of their queries. Clients are informed of the age of information in caches, and may request more recent information. SNQP provides support for graphical user interfaces. It also supports different types of comparison operators, so services can use SNQP with a variety of back-end servers, e.g. relational database servers, CCSO servers, and servers providing relational views of X.500.