faq

What is W-Hat.com?

W-Hat.com provides a couple of useful services for LSL developers:

name2key provides a way to get an avatar's key from their name.
httpdb provides free key/value storage for scripts with no signup.
lslint is a lint tool for LSL scripts

In the past, we also offered:

objdns provided email aliases for objects.
httpmail let objects send email to other objects via HTTP.

What happened to W-Hat?

The group became inactive and faded into obscurity as its members grew up. In 2011 the owner of the group and land was quietly banned from Second Life.

Some of us still hang out in #sl on irc.synirc.net, but almost nobody still plays Second Life.

Can I...

Yes, please do. Everything on this site is free and open source and all the services are free to use and abuse in any manner you see fit.

Who runs this site?

masa@w-hat.com

Where'd the postcards go?

postcards.zip 5779 files, 1.0 GB

name2key

Look up keys

Enter as many names as you want, separated by anything other than spaces or periods.

Add keys to database

Paste keys in this box to add them to the database. Formatting and extraneous text don't matter; anything that doesn't look like a UUID will be ignored.

API

GET /name2key/<name>

Looks up a name. <name> may be in user.name or resident name format. If the name is found, returns status 200 and the UUID. If it is not found, returns status 404 and NULL_KEY.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/name2key/Masakazu%20Kojima	200	a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a0
GET	/name2key/goVeRnoR.linDEN	200	3d6181b0-6a4b-97ef-18d8-722652995cf1
GET	/name2key/a	404	00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
GET	/name2key/username.a.a.a	400	Invalid name

GET /name2key?names=<names>

Looks up multiple names at once. <names> should be a list of up to 50 names in user.name or resident name format separated by anything that is unambiguous. Returns status 200 and a list of names exactly as input and corresponding UUIDs separated by newlines. If a key was not found the UUID will be NULL_KEY.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/name2key?names=Masakazu%20Kojima,governor.linden,username,a	200	Masakazu Kojima a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a0 governor.linden 3d6181b0-6a4b-97ef-18d8-722652995cf1 username 3223a4e4-01c6-44f8-9aa1-df790e02aa93 a 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
GET	/name2key/?names=username.a.a.a	200	username.a 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 a.a 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

GET /key2name/<uuid>

Look up a UUID. If found, returns 200 and the name in canonical user.name format. If not found, returns 404 and an empty string. Note this may attempt to resolve keys via world.secondlife.com and in-world search and may wait up to 60 seconds before returning a negative response.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/key2name/a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a0	200	masakazu.kojima
GET	/key2name/3223a4e4-01c6-44f8-9aa1-df790e02aa93	200	username
GET	/key2name/a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a1	404
GET	/key2name/a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a	404	(undefined)

POST /name2key

Add keys to the database. The request body should contain one or more UUIDs separated by anything (or nothing). Keys will be queued up for resolution and an estimate of the number of new keys will be returned. Always returns status 200.
GET|POST /name2key?keys=<keys> (DEPRECATED)

Add keys to the database. <keys> should contain one or more UUIDs separated by anything (or nothing). Keys will be queued up for resolution and an estimate of the number of new keys will be returned. Always returns status 200. This API only exists to preserve compatibility with older scripts, and should not be used in new scripts.

GET|POST /name2key?name=<name>[&terse=1] (DEPRECATED)

Looks up a name in the database or SL search. Name may be in user.name or resident name format. If the name is found, returns status 200 and the UUID. If it is not found, returns status 200 and NULL_KEY. When terse=1 is not specified, result UUIDs will be prefixed by the name exactly the same as input, and the string "None found" will be returned instead of NULL_KEY. This API only exists to preserve compatibility with older scripts, and should not be used in new scripts.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/name2key?name=Masakazu%20Kojima	200	Masakazu Kojima a27b84f0-2757-4176-9579-43a181d4a5a0
GET	/name2key/?name=goVeRnoR.linDEN	200	goVeRnoR.linDEN 3d6181b0-6a4b-97ef-18d8-722652995cf1
GET	/name2key/?name=goVeRnoR.linDEN&terse=1	200	3d6181b0-6a4b-97ef-18d8-722652995cf1
POST	/name2key/?name=a	200	None found
POST	/name2key/?name=a&terse=1	200	00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000

LSL example

string NAME  = "Masakazu Kojima";           // name to look up
string URL   = "http://w-hat.com/name2key"; // name2key url
key    reqid;                               // http request id

default {
    state_entry() {
        reqid = llHTTPRequest( URL + "/" + llEscapeURL(NAME), [], "" );
    }

    http_response(key id, integer status, list meta, string body) {
        if ( id != reqid )
            return;
        if ( status == 499 )
            llOwnerSay("name2key request timed out");
        else if ( status == 400 )
            llOwnerSay("Invalid name: " + NAME);
        else if ( status == 404 )
            llOwnerSay("No key found for " + NAME);
        else if ( status != 200 )
            llOwnerSay("the internet exploded!!");
        else
            llOwnerSay(NAME + "'s key is: " + body );
    }
}

I don't want my key listed!

There is no reason to worry about somebody else having your key. It is not a secret, it is just an identifier that LSL scripts use to interact with you.

Other databases

HaxWorx name2key - Uses SL search as backup and crossfeeds into W-Hat database.
KDC's database - Kyrah Abattoir's database. Has been around for a long time.

Name Formats

Since Second Life introduced usernames, the concept of what a name is has gotten complicated. The service understands four types of names:

Resident Name (First Last)

Resident Names are the original format. Everybody has a first and last name, separated by a space. Accounts created after the switch to usernames have the last name Resident. Examples: Masakazu Kojima, Governor Linden, Username Resident
Username (First.Last)

Usernames are the new format. The first and last name are separated by a period (.), and the last name is optional if it is "resident". "username.resident" and "username" are equivalent. Examples: Masakazu.Kojima, governor.linden, username.resident, username
Canonical Username (first.last)

Canonical usernames are what this database stores. They are the same as usernames, exept they are always lowercase, and anything that can be omitted is. "username.resident" is not a valid canonical name. Examples: masakazu.kojima, governor.linden, username
Display Name

A display name is freeform text that can be entered by a user and is displayed instead of their username. This is used in search results and profile pages. The actual account name is always appended in parentheses. Examples: Governor Linden (masakazu.kojima), Plastic Duck (username)

Nightly CSV

These files are updated daily at 08:00 UTC. Names are in Title Case resident name format, and the file is sorted by UUID.

full bzip2 (~133MB)
full rar (~145MB)
full gzip (~161MB)
full zip (~161MB)
new only bzip2 (~326KB)

httpdb

Pardon the mess

API documentation is a work-in-progress and the web interface is currently unavailable. They will be restored as soon as possible.

Free storage for LSL scripts

httpdb provides free, persistent, off-site storage for Second Life LSL scripts via llHTTPRequest. You can store up to 250kb of data in the form of key/value pairs, and read or write the data from any script. You can share your data with other users, protect it with passwords, browse and manage your data on the web, and download backups.

Registration

There is no need to register to use httpdb, you can just start saving and retrieving data at any time.

Extra Space

If 250kb is not enough for your purposes, you can request more by emailing masa@w-hat.com. You are also welcome to use multiple accounts to store your data.

API

GET /httpdb/<path>

Retrieve a record stored in HTTPDB.

Parameters

start\|s	Drop specified number of leading bytes from the response.
password\|p	The password required to access this record.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/httpdb/blah	404
GET	/httpdb/some/path	200	some data
GET	/httpdb/some/path?s=2	200	me data
GET	/httpdb/protected	403
GET	/httpdb/protected?password=secret	200	top secret data

GET /httpdb/<prefix>?mode=list

List all stored paths starting with specified prefix.

Parameters

start\|s	Drop specified number of leading bytes from the response.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
GET	/httpdb/hello?mode=list	200
GET	/httpdb/user_?mode=list	200	user_1 user_2
GET	/httpdb/user_?mode=list&start=4	200	_1 user_2

PUT /httpdb/<path>

Create or overwrite a record in HTTPDB.

Parameters

mode\|m	How to handle existing data. No effect when creating new record. write (default) - overwrite existing data. Requires only write permission. append - add after existing data. Requires read and write permission. prepend - add before existing data. Requires read and write permission.
password\|p	The password required to update this record. TODO: explain
read_password\|readpass\|rp	A password that will be required to read this record in the future. If the record already exists, setting this requires admin permission.
write_password\|writepass\|wp	A password that will be required to write to this record in the future. If the record already exists, setting this requires admin permission.

Examples

Request			Response
Method	URL	Body	Status	Body
PUT	/httpdb/test	Hello	201	249995
PUT	/httpdb/test?mode=append	World	200	249989

DELETE /httpdb/<path>

Delete a record in HTTPDB.

Parameters

password|p The password required to update this record. TODO: explain

Examples

Request Response

Method URL Status Body

DELETE /httpdb/test 200 250000

DELETE /httpdb/test 404

password\|p	The password required to update this record. TODO: explain

Request	Response
DELETE	/httpdb/test	200	250000
DELETE	/httpdb/test	404

POST /httpdb/<path>

Change the read and/or write password on a record.

Parameters

password\|p	Current admin password for owner of record.
read_password\|readpass\|rp	New password to require for future reads of record.
write_password\|writepass\|wp	New password to require for future writes to record.

Examples

Request		Response
Method	URL	Status	Body
POST	/httpdb/test?wp=write	403
POST	/httpdb/test?wp=write&p=admin	200

GET /httpdb/__sys/space/free

Get remaining free space.
GET /httpdb/__sys/space/used

Get count of space used.
GET /httpdb/__sys/space/available

Get total space allocated to you.

Related Projects

httpdb-gae is an implementation of httpdb in Python for running on Google App Engine (last updated in 2009).
Zero Linden created a similar project called Silo in 2006, but his site is gone.

faq

What is W-Hat.com?

What happened to W-Hat?

Can I...

Who runs this site?

Where'd the postcards go?

name2key

Look up keys

Add keys to database

API

LSL example

I don't want my key listed!

Other databases

Name Formats

Nightly CSV

lslint

lint for LSL

Source and downloads

Try online

httpdb

Pardon the mess

Free storage for LSL scripts

Registration

Extra Space

API

Related Projects