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 / 
roads-v2.2
/ bin/z3950_shim.pl

NAME

bin/z3950_shim.pl - search gateway between WHOIS++ and Z39.50 server

SYNOPSIS

  bin/z3950_shim.pl [-d database] [-h host] [-p port]
    [-z path_to_zbatch]

DESCRIPTION

This program relays WHOIS++ search requests to a Z39.50 server and tries to munge the results back into WHOIS++ result format. It runs from the command line listening to STDIN and writing its results to STDOUT, and hence is suitable for launching via inetd.

Before passing the WHOIS++ query on to the Z39.50 server, it is munged to remove WHOIS++ search syntax which would confuse it. The search results, if any, are massaged into WHOIS++ templates using the template type GILS-NWI.

OPTIONS

-d database

The database to use, or "Default" by default.

-h host

The host to contact, or "localhost" by default.

-p port

The TCP port number to use, or 210 by default.

-z path_to_zbatch

The path to the zbatch program, or /usr/local/bin/zbatch by default.

BUGS

This program depends on the zbatch program from the CNIDR Isite distribution - see http://www.cnidr.org. It should be rewritten to include native Z39.50 support!

Z39.50 is a very complex protocol, and it's highly likely that you won't be able to use this tool to talk to an arbitrary Z39.50 server. Be prepared to get your hacking gloves out!

Should be rewritten to allow for operation as a stand-alone server.

SEE ALSO

"z3950_centroid.pl" in bin, RFC 1913

COPYRIGHT

Copyright (c) 1988, Peter Valkenburg <valkenburg@terena.nl>, Martin Hamilton <martinh@gnu.org> and Jon Knight <jon@net.lut.ac.uk>. All rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

It was developed by the Department of Computer Studies at Loughborough University of Technology, as part of the ROADS project. ROADS is funded under the UK Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib), the European Commission Telematics for Research Programme, and the TERENA development programme.

AUTHOR

Peter Valkenburg <valkenburg@terena.nl>, Martin Hamilton <martinh@gnu.org>, Jon Knight <jon@net.lut.ac.uk>.