<abstract>This specification provides canonical documentation of the existing 'jabber:iq:version' namespace currently used within the Jabber community.</abstract>
<p>The Jabber protocols have long included a method for discovering version information about the software running at another entity's JID. This method makes use of the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace and has been documented variously in Internet-Drafts and elsewhere. Because this protocol is not required by &rfc2779;, the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace was removed from &xmppim;. This specification fills the void for canonical documentation.</p>
<p>The 'jabber:iq:version' namespace provides a standard way for Jabber entities to exchange information about the software version used by the entities. The information is communicated in a request/response pair using an <iq/> element that contains a <query/> scoped by the 'jabber:iq:version' namespace. The following children of the <query/> are allowed in an IQ result:</p>
<ul>
<li><name/> -- The natural-language name of the software. This element is REQUIRED in a result.</li>
<li><version/> -- The specific version of the software. This element is REQUIRED in a result.</li>
<li><os/> -- The operating system of the queried entity. This element is OPTIONAL in a result.</li>
</ul>
</section1>
<section1topic='Examples'>
<examplecaption='Querying Another Entity for its Software Version'><![CDATA[
<iq
type='get'
from='romeo@montague.net/orchard'
to='juliet@capulet.com/balcony'
id='version_1'>
<queryxmlns='jabber:iq:version'/>
</iq>
]]></example>
<examplecaption='Receiving a Reply Regarding Software Version'><![CDATA[