diff -r -c RAToolSet-4.6.3/src/irr/birdwhoisc.cc RAToolSet-4.6.3-RIPE/src/irr/birdwhoisc.cc
*** RAToolSet-4.6.3/src/irr/birdwhoisc.cc	Thu Oct 14 20:13:22 1999
--- RAToolSet-4.6.3-RIPE/src/irr/birdwhoisc.cc	Tue Mar 20 16:45:28 2001
***************
*** 9,14 ****
--- 9,15 ----
  #include "rpsl/object_log.hh"
  #include <memory.h>
  #include <malloc.h>
+ #include <string.h>
  
  #ifndef BUFFER_SIZE
  #define BUFFER_SIZE            2047
***************
*** 90,103 ****
    return true;
  }
  
  bool BirdWhoisClient::getResponse(char *&text, int &len) {
     int bytesRead;
     bool found = false;
     unsigned int endOfQuery;
  
!    if (!response) 
!       // there may be some left over data after the previous query's response
!       response = new Buffer;
  
     endOfQuery = 0;
     do {
--- 91,162 ----
    return true;
  }
  
+ // remove blank lines at the beginning of buffer, if possible
+ // returns true if something removed, else false
+ static bool removeLeadingBlankLines(Buffer &buf)
+ {
+     bool removedLines = false;
+ 
+     // check if all remaining lines are blank
+     // this check is necessary to handle the case where the server
+     //   returns object.
+     // after stripping RIPE comments, only blank lines are left,
+     //   but if we remove them, then the "end-of-stream" double blank 
+     //   line is removed.
+     bool allBlank = true;
+     for (int i=0; allBlank && (i<buf.getSize()); i++) {
+         if (buf.getContents()[i] != '\n') {
+ 	    allBlank = false;
+ 	}
+     }
+ 
+     // otherwise, we can remove any leading blank lines
+     if (!allBlank) {
+         while ((buf.getSize() > 0) && ((buf.getContents())[0] == '\n')) {
+             buf.flush(1);
+ 	    removedLines = true;
+         }
+     }
+ 
+     return removedLines;
+ }
+ 
+ // remove comments at beginning of buffer
+ // returns true if something removed, else false
+ static bool removeLeadingRipeComments(Buffer &buf)
+ {
+     bool removedLines = false;
+     while ((buf.getSize() >= 2) && ((buf.getContents())[0] == '%')) {
+         char *contents = buf.getContents();
+         char *eol = (char *)memchr(contents, '\n', buf.getSize());
+         if (eol == NULL) {
+             // no EOL, no comment to strip (yet)
+            return removedLines;
+         }
+         buf.flush(eol-contents+1);
+ 	removedLines = true;
+     }
+ 
+     return removedLines;
+ }
+ 
+ // remove RIPE-style comments
+ static void stripRipeComments(Buffer &buf)
+ {
+     while (removeLeadingBlankLines(buf) || removeLeadingRipeComments(buf)) {
+         // do nothing
+     }
+ }
+ 
  bool BirdWhoisClient::getResponse(char *&text, int &len) {
     int bytesRead;
     bool found = false;
     unsigned int endOfQuery;
  
!    if (response != NULL) {
!        delete response;
!    }
!    response = new Buffer;
  
     endOfQuery = 0;
     do {
***************
*** 111,116 ****
--- 170,184 ----
  	     && response->contents[endOfQuery+2] == '\n')
  	    found = true;
  
+       if ((response->size == 2) &&
+           (response->contents[0] == '\n') &&
+           (response->contents[1] == '\n'))
+       {
+ 	  delete response;
+ 	  response = NULL;
+ 	  return false;
+       }
+ 
        if (found)
  	 break;
  
***************
*** 125,130 ****
--- 193,199 ----
  	 response=NULL;
  	 return false;
        }
+       stripRipeComments(*response);
     } while (!found);
  
     Buffer *result = response;
***************
*** 222,229 ****
        }
  #endif
      free(pzcKeys);
      }
-   return true;  
  }
  
  bool BirdWhoisClient::getIndirectMembers(char *setName,
--- 291,302 ----
        }
  #endif
      free(pzcKeys);
+     return true;  
+     } 
+   else 
+     {
+     return false;
      }
  }
  
  bool BirdWhoisClient::getIndirectMembers(char *setName,