The answer, authority, and additional sections all share the same format: a variable number of resource records, where the number of records is specified in the corresponding count field in the header. Each resource record has the following format:
1 1 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| |
/ /
/ NAME /
| |
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| TYPE |
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| CLASS |
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| TTL |
| |
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| RDLENGTH |
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--|
/ RDATA /
/ /
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
where:
NAME a domain name to which this resource record pertains.
TYPE two octets containing one of the RR type codes. This
field specifies the meaning of the data in the RDATA
field.
CLASS two octets which specify the class of the data in the
RDATA field.
TTL a 32 bit unsigned integer that specifies the time
interval (in seconds) that the resource record may be
cached before it should be discarded. Zero values are
interpreted to mean that the RR can only be used for the
transaction in progress, and should not be cached.
RDLENGTH an unsigned 16 bit integer that specifies the length in
octets of the RDATA field.
RDATA a variable length string of octets that describes the
resource. The format of this information varies
according to the TYPE and CLASS of the resource record.
For example, the if the TYPE is A and the CLASS is IN,
the RDATA field is a 4 octet ARPA Internet address.