NAME

       Net::DNS::Header - DNS packet header

SYNOPSIS

           use Net::DNS::Packet;

           $packet = new Net::DNS::Packet;
           $header = $packet->header;

DESCRIPTION

       A "Net::DNS::Header" object represents the header portion of a DNS packet.

METHODS

   new
           $header = new Net::DNS::Header;

       "new" creates a header object appropriate for making a DNS query.

   decode
           ($header, $offset) = decode Net::DNS::Header(\$data);

       Decodes the header record at the start of a DNS packet.  The argument is a reference to
       the packet data.

       Returns a Net::DNS::Header object and the offset of the next location in the packet.

       Decoding is aborted if the header object cannot be created (e.g., corrupt or insufficient
       data).

   encode
           $data = $header->encode;

       Returns the header data in binary format, appropriate for use in a DNS query packet.

   print
           $header->print;

       Prints the header record on the standard output.

   string
           print $header->string;

       Returns a string representation of the header object.

   id
           print "query id = ", $header->id, "\n";
           $header->id(1234);

       Gets or sets the query identification number.

   qr
           print "query response flag = ", $header->qr, "\n";
           $header->qr(0);

       Gets or sets the query response flag.

   opcode
           print "query opcode = ", $header->opcode, "\n";
           $header->opcode("UPDATE");

       Gets or sets the query opcode (the purpose of the query).

   aa
           print "answer is ", $header->aa ? "" : "non-", "authoritative\n";
           $header->aa(0);

       Gets or sets the authoritative answer flag.

   tc
           print "packet is ", $header->tc ? "" : "not ", "truncated\n";
           $header->tc(0);

       Gets or sets the truncated packet flag.

   rd
           print "recursion was ", $header->rd ? "" : "not ", "desired\n";
           $header->rd(0);

       Gets or sets the recursion desired flag.

   cd
           print "checking was ", $header->cd ? "not" : "", "desired\n";
           $header->cd(0);

       Gets or sets the checking disabled flag.

   ra
           print "recursion is ", $header->ra ? "" : "not ", "available\n";
           $header->ra(0);

       Gets or sets the recursion available flag.

   ad
           print "The result has ", $header->ad ? "" : "not", "been verified\n"

       Relevant in DNSSEC context.

       (The AD bit is only set on answers where signatures have been cryptographically verified
       or the server is authoritative for the data and is allowed to set the bit by policy.)

   rcode
           print "query response code = ", $header->rcode, "\n";
           $header->rcode("SERVFAIL");

       Gets or sets the query response code (the status of the query).

   qdcount, zocount
           print "# of question records: ", $header->qdcount, "\n";
           $header->qdcount(2);

       Gets or sets the number of records in the question section of the packet.  In dynamic
       update packets, this field is known as "zocount" and refers to the number of RRs in the
       zone section.

   ancount, prcount
           print "# of answer records: ", $header->ancount, "\n";
           $header->ancount(5);

       Gets or sets the number of records in the answer section of the packet.  In dynamic update
       packets, this field is known as "prcount" and refers to the number of RRs in the
       prerequisite section.

   nscount, upcount
           print "# of authority records: ", $header->nscount, "\n";
           $header->nscount(2);

       Gets or sets the number of records in the authority section of the packet.  In dynamic
       update packets, this field is known as "upcount" and refers to the number of RRs in the
       update section.

   arcount, adcount
           print "# of additional records: ", $header->arcount, "\n";
           $header->arcount(3);

       Gets or sets the number of records in the additional section of the packet.  In dynamic
       update packets, this field is known as "adcount".

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c)1997-2002 Michael Fuhr.

       Portions Copyright (c)2002-2004 Chris Reinhardt.

       Portions Copyright (c)2007 Dick Franks.

       All rights reserved.

       This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
       terms as Perl itself.

SEE ALSO

       perl, Net::DNS, Net::DNS::Packet, RFC 1035 Section 4.1.1