= Public Suffix Service

<b>Public Suffix Service</b> is a Ruby domain name parser based on the {Public Suffix List}[http://publicsuffix.org].


== What is the Public Suffix List?

The <b>Public Suffix Service</b> is a cross-vendor initiative to provide an accurate list of domain name suffixes.

The Public Suffix Service is an initiative of the Mozilla Project, but is maintained as a community resource. It is available for use in any software, but was originally created to meet the needs of browser manufacturers.

A "public suffix" is one under which Internet users can directly register names. Some examples of public suffixes are ".com", ".co.uk" and "pvt.k12.wy.us". The Public Suffix List is a list of all known public suffixes.

Source: http://publicsuffix.org


== Why the Public Suffix List is better than any available Regular Expression parser?

Previously, browsers used an algorithm which basically only denied setting wide-ranging cookies for top-level domains with no dots (e.g. com or org). However, this did not work for top-level domains where only third-level registrations are allowed (e.g. co.uk). In these cases, websites could set a cookie for co.uk which will be passed onto every website registered under co.uk.

Clearly, this was a security risk as it allowed websites other than the one setting the cookie to read it, and therefore potentially extract sensitive information.

Since there is no algorithmic method of finding the highest level at which a domain may be registered for a particular top-level domain (the policies differ with each registry), the only method is to create a list of all top-level domains and the level at which domains can be registered. This is the aim of the effective TLD list.

As well as being used to prevent cookies from being set where they shouldn't be, the list can also potentially be used for other applications where the registry controlled and privately controlled parts of a domain name need to be known, for example when grouping by top-level domains.

Source: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Public_Suffix_List

Not convinced yet? Check out a real world example:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/288810/get-the-subdomain-from-a-url


== Requirements

* Ruby >= 1.8.6 or Ruby 1.9.x

Successfully tested with the following interpreters

* Ruby 1.8.6 / 1.8.7 / 1.9.1
* MacRuby
* Ruby Enterprise Edition


== Installation

The best way to install Public Suffix Service< is via {RubyGems}[http://www.rubygems.org].

  $ gem install public_suffix_service

You might need administrator privileges on your system to install the Gem.


== Usage

Example domain without subdomains.

  domain = PublicSuffixService.parse("google.com")
  # => #<PublicSuffixService::Domain>
  domain.tld
  # => "com"
  domain.sld
  # => "google"
  domain.trd
  # => nil
  domain.domain
  # => "google.com"
  domain.subdomain
  # => nil

Example domain with subdomains.

  domain = PublicSuffixService.parse("www.google.com")
  # => #<PublicSuffixService::Domain>
  domain.tld
  # => "com"
  domain.sld
  # => "google"
  domain.trd
  # => "www"
  domain.domain
  # => "google.com"
  domain.subdomain
  # => "google.com"

Simple validation example.

  PublicSuffixService.valid?("google.com")
  # => true

  PublicSuffixService.valid?("www.google.com")
  # => true

  PublicSuffixService.valid?("x.yz")
  # => false


== Credits

Author:: {Simone Carletti}[http://www.simonecarletti.com/] <weppos@weppos.net>


== FeedBack and Bug reports

If you use this library and find yourself missing any functionality I have missed, please {let me know}[mailto:weppos@weppos.net].

Bug reports and Feature suggestions {are welcomed}[http://github.com/weppos/public_suffix_service/issues].


== More

* {Homepage}[http://www.simonecarletti.com/code/public_suffix_service]
* {Repository}[http://github.com/weppos/public_suffix_service]
* {API Documentation}[http://www.simonecarletti.com/code/public_suffix_service/api/] (RDoc)
* {Introducing the Public Suffix List library for Ruby}[http://www.simonecarletti.com/blog/2010/06/public-suffix-list-library-for-ruby/]


== Changelog

See the CHANGELOG.rdoc file for details.


== License

Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Simone Carletti,
Public Suffix Service is released under the MIT license.