On Thu, 11 Mar 2021 at 13:14, Clem Cole <clemc@ccc.com> wrote:
The SRI file was different format.   There was a tool that fetched and converted from the PDP-10 scheme to the UNIX scheme - gethtable(8) or something like that.

gettable(8) and htable(8):

GETTABLE(8C)                                                                                                                                 GETTABLE(8C)

NAME
       gettable - get NIC format host tables from a host

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/gettable host

DESCRIPTION
       Gettable is a simple program used to obtain the NIC standard host tables from a ``nicname'' server.  The indicated host is queried for the tables.
       The tables, if retrieved, are placed in the file hosts.txt.

       Gettable operates by opening a TCP connection to the port indicated in the service specification for ``nicname''.  A  request  is  then  made  for
       ``ALL'' names and the resultant information is placed in the output file.

       Gettable  is  best  used in conjunction with the htable(8) program which converts the NIC standard file format to that used by the network library
       lookup routines.

SEE ALSO
       intro(3N), htable(8)

BUGS
       Should allow requests for only part of the database.

4th Berkeley Distribution                                              4 March 1983                                                          GETTABLE(8C)


HTABLE(8)                   System Manager's Manual                  HTABLE(8)



NAME
       htable - convert NIC standard format host tables

SYNOPSIS
       /etc/htable file

DESCRIPTION
       Htable  is used to convert host files in the format specified in Inter-
       net RFC 810 to the format used by the network library routines.   Three
       files  are  created as a result of running htable: hosts, networks, and
       gateways.  The hosts file is used by  the  gethostent(3N)  routines  in
       mapping host names to addresses.  The networks file is used by the get-
       netent(3N) routines in mapping network names to numbers.  The  gateways
       file  is used by the routing daemon in identifying ``passive'' Internet
       gateways; see routed(8C) for an explanation.

       If any of the files localhosts,  localnetworks,  or  localgateways  are
       present  in  the current directory, the file's contents is prepended to
       the output file without interpretation.  This allows sites to  maintain
       local  aliases and entries which are not normally present in the master
       database.

       Htable is best used in conjunction with the gettable(8C) program  which
       retrieves the NIC database from a host.

SEE ALSO
       intro(3N), gettable(8C)

BUGS
       Does not properly calculate the gateways file.



4th Berkeley Distribution        4 March 1983                        HTABLE(8)

-Henry