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From: [e-mail] (Aydin Edguer)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.wais,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.infosystems.wais Frequently asked Questions [FAQ] (with answers)
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Date: 9 May 1994 13:58:37 GMT
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Archive-name: wais-faq/getting-started
Last-modified: 6 May 94 00:00:01 EST

comp.infosystems.wais Frequently asked Questions [FAQ] (with answers)

    -1-  What is the purpose of this newsgroup?
    -2-  How can I search this FAQ to find the answers?
    -3-  What is WAIS?
    -4-  Where can I find more information on WAIS?
    -5-  How can I get access to WAIS?
    -6-  Where can I find WAIS software for the XYZ OS?
    -7-  Where can I pick up the list of sources (e.g. databases) for WAIS?

Please send suggested corrections and additions to: [e-mail]
The latest version of this FAQ is available from:
 ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/wais-faq/getting-started

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: -1-  What is the purpose of this newsgroup?
Date: 8 Oct 93 00:00:01 EST

From the Charter:

comp.infosystems.wais is for discussion of WAIS, the Wide Area Information
Servers, a networked full text retrieval system developed by Thinking Machines,
Apple Computer, Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick.

------------------------------

Subject: -2-  How can I search this FAQ to find the answers?
Date: 19 Nov 92 00:00:01 EST

This FAQ follows the RFC1153 recommendations for message digests and
thus should easily be viewed by newsreaders that understand message
digests.

This FAQ also uses the Subject: lines with the answer to each question
and thus it should be easy to step through the answers with the "^G" command
of rn.

This FAQ marks each question with a "dash number dash" so that using
a regular expression search pattern you can easily get directly to any
question on the document.

------------------------------

Subject: -3-  What is WAIS?
Date: 6 May 94 00:00:01 EST

WAIS stands for Wide Area Information Servers.

WAIS is a networked information retrieval system.  WAIS currently uses TCP/IP
to connect client applications to information servers.  Client applications
are able to retrieve text or multimedia documents stored on the servers.
Client applications request documents using keywords.  Servers search a full
text index for the documents and return a list of documents containing the
keyword.  The client may then request the server to send a copy of any of
the documents found.

Although the name "Wide Area" implies the use of the large networks such as
the Internet to connect clients to servers distributed around the network,
WAIS can be used between a client and server on the same machine or a client
and server on the same LAN.

WAIS uses the Z39.50 query protocol to communicate between clients and servers.

There are a large number of servers running currently [over 470 databases].
Topics range from recipes and movies to bibliographies, technical documents,
and newsgroup archives.

WAIS was developed as a project of Thinking Machines, Apple Computer,
Dow Jones, and KPMG Peat Marwick.  A version of WAIS that is freely
redistributable is available with full source to the server, indexing
software, and many clients.

Thinking Machines no longer supports the publicly distributed WAIS [as of
WAIS-8-b5.1].  Support and development of "free" WAIS has been taken over
by CNIDR (Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval).
Current CNIDR releases are called freeWAIS, to help reduce confusion.
 <a HREF="http://cnidr.org/welcome.html">http://cnidr.org/welcome.html</a>

Commercial development and support of WAIS is now available from WAIS, Inc.
WAIS, Inc. was founded by many of the original developers of WAIS.
Although WAIS, Inc. does sell commercial servers with extra features and
full support, they continue to provide other freely redistributable tools.
    ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/wais-inc-doc/wais-inc-company-story.txt

------------------------------

Subject: -4-  Where can I find more information on WAIS?
Date: 6 May 94 00:00:01 EST

Depending upon the information you seek there are many options.

Perhaps the best place to start is the WAIS white sheet available
via anonymous FTP from ftp.think.com in the file wais-corporate-paper.text.
This will give you a good idea of why people got interested in WAIS
and a very simple overview of the WAIS architecture.
    ftp://ftp.think.com/wais/wais-corporate-paper.text

If you want to learn more about how WAIS really works or answer other
FAQ's the best place to start is the documentation that comes with WAIS.
The WAIS distribution is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.cnidr.org
in the file /pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.3.tar.Z  After uncompressing and
untarring the distribution, you will find a ./doc directory that includes
a more complete FAQ, documents for programmers, users guides, protocol
specifications, a paper on digital librarian ethics, and a bibliography
of WAIS articles.

If you wish to do further reading the bibliography of articles published
on WAIS is also available separately from ftp.wais.com in the file
/pub/wais-inc-doc/bibliography.txt.
    ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/wais-inc-doc/bibliography.txt

Next, of course, there is the newsgroup comp.infosystems.wais.
The newsgroup is regularly visited by the authors of WAIS and
other experts on using both WAIS and other resources on the Internet.
After listening in on the group for a while, you are welcome to post your
questions if you have been unable to find an answer yourself from the
documentation.

There are also a number of mailing lists which you can join if you
wish to follow WAIS.

wais-interest            Contact: [e-mail]
    This is a moderated list used to announce new releases for
    the Internet environment.

wais-discussion            Contact: [e-mail]
    The WAIS-discussion is a digested, moderated list on Electronic
    publishing issues in general and Wide Area Information Servers in
    particular.  There are postings every week or two.

wais-talk            Contact: [e-mail]
    The WAIS-talk is an open list (interactive, not moderated) for
    implementors and developers.  This is a technical list that is
    not meant to be used as a support list.

Z3950IW                Contact: [e-mail]
    Z39.50 Implementors list for low level discussions of protocol
    details.

ZIP                Contact: [e-mail]
    The Z39.50-92 Information Project (ZIP) is a mailing list for
    those interested in the development of the FreeWAIS distribution
    from CNIDR.

SIG-WAIS            Contact: [e-mail]
    This is a list for announcements of meetings and presentations
    of the WAIS Special Interest Group.  These face-to-face conferences
    provide useful demonstrations and talks on WAIS and Z39.50.

WAISCUST            Contact: [e-mail]
    This list is for discussion among customers of WAIS Inc.  It is
    not sponsored by WAIS Inc. and opinions expressed here are those
    of the individual posters (as if anyone needed to say that).
    To subscribe, send mail to "[e-mail]" with the following
    in the *body* of your message:
        subscribe waiscust Yourfirstname Yourlastname

CNIDR is releasing information on freeWAIS status, plans, and operational
hints via World Wide Web (WWW).  This is perhaps the best way to get
up-to-date information freeWAIS.
    <a HREF="http://kudzu.cnidr.org/cnidr_projects">CNIDR Projects</a>

The United States Geological Survey has produced a number of training
videotapes on the subject of Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS).
Information on their contents and availability is available with WWW.
<a HREF="http://billings.nlm.nih.gov/current_news.dir/wais_tapes.html">Tapes</a>

------------------------------

Subject: -5-  How can I get access to WAIS?
Date: 4 Nov 93 00:00:01 EST

Perhaps the easiest way to get started, if you do not want to get a copy of
the full distribution and build your own clients is to try WAIS out using a
simple client running at another site.  To do this you must use TELNET to
connect to sunsite.unc.edu or wais.wais.com and enter the username "wais"
[lowercase-no quotes] at the "login:" prompt.  This will permit you to use
swais (Screen WAIS).  swais is a curses based interface, so if you have
problems, it may be due to your terminal setup.  If you are unsure of the
commands, try using a question mark [?] at the prompt.

Even if you do not have full access to the Internet, you can still take
advantage of WAIS via the WAIS mail server.  While this is a primitive
tool compared to interactive usage, it does work.  To get information on
using the WAIS mail server, send a message to [e-mail]
with a body containing the single word "help" [do not include the quotation
marks].

------------------------------

Subject: -6-  Where can I find WAIS software for the XYZ OS?
Date: 6 May 94 00:00:01 EST

There are a number of sources for WAIS software available via anonymous FTP.
[please try nic.funet.fi:/pub/networking/services/wais first, if in Europe]

ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.3.tar.Z
    This is the current distribution of WAIS, with many bug fixes
    and the addition of Boolean searches, stemming, etc.  Please note
    freeWAIS 0.3 is a beta release.  Bug fixes are actively sought
    and will be incorporated into new releases.  This is an updated
    release of the UNIX server and clients only.
  <a HREF="http://cnidr.org/cnidr_projects/freewais0.2.html">RELEASE-NOTES</a>

ftp://ls6-www.informatik.unni-dortmund.de/pub/wais/freeWAIS-0.2-sf08-alpha.tar.gz
    This is a modified version of freeWAIS-0.202.
    Current patchlevel is 08. Next release will be beta.
    A research version of freeWAIS featuring a redesign of the
    query processing.  This permits configurable document formats, and
    fieldwise indexing and retrieval (with stemming and soundex searches)
    Requires imake and the Athena widgets.
    author - [e-mail] (Ulrich Pfeifer)

ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.1.tar.Z
    This is the complete distribution of all tools available at the
    time.  Please note that most are now out of date and you should
    probably just obtain them individually.
    For more information read the release notes, available via anonymous
    FTP from ftp.cnidr.org:/pub/NIDR.tools/freeWAIS-0.1/RELEASE-NOTES

ftp://ftp.think.com/wais/wais-8-b5.1.tar.Z
    Included for historical purposes only.  This used to be the main
    UNIX distribution.  freeWAIS is the current distribution that
    includes many bugfixes and enhancements.
    author - [e-mail] (Harry Morris)
           - [e-mail] (Brewster Kahle)
           - [e-mail] (Jonathan Goldman)

ftp://ftp.think.com/wais/motif-a1.tar.Z
    mxwais - an OSF-Motif client interface that requires the xwais source.

ftp://ftp.eos.ncsu.edu/pub/mxqwais/mxqwais-src.tar.Z
    mxqwais - an OSF-Motif client interface.
    author - [e-mail] (erik scott)

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/wais/clients/olwais-0.9.tar.Z
    olwais - an OpenWindows (NeWS) client interface
    SPARC binary only.  Future releases will contain the C++ source.

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/wais/clients/unix/sunview/sunsearch.src.003.tar.Z
    sunsearch - a SunView (SunTools) client interface
    author - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)
    current contact - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)

ftp://quake.think.com/wais/waismail.tar.Z
    waismail - a mail interface for searching WAIS databases.
    Requires perl which must be obtained separately.
    author - [e-mail] (Jonathan Goldman)

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/wais/servers/vms/vms-client/*
    client - a VAX VMS based client interface (based on the code from 8-b2?)
    Requires TGV/Multinet (must be obtained separately).
    author - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)
    current contact - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/wais/servers/vms/vms-server/*
    waisserver - a VAX VMS based server
    waisindex - a VAX VMS based indexer
    author - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)
    current contact - [e-mail] (Jim Fullton)

ftp://ftp.think.com/wais/WAIStation-NeXT-1.9.6.tar.Z
    WAIStation.app - a NeXTstep based client interface for NeXT
    workstations.
    author - [e-mail] (Paul Burchard)

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/wais/clients/macintosh/WAIStation-0-63.sit.hqx
    WAIStation - a Macintosh interface client based on MacTCP.
    MacTCP must be obtained separately.
    Source to the client in THINK C is available from
    quake.think.com:/wais/WAIStation-0-62-Sources.sit.hqx

ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/freeware/mac/wais-for-mac-1.2-alpha.sea.hqx
    This is a free Macintosh WAIS client that supports both WAIS and
    the new Z39.50 commercial servers.  Requires wais-for-mac-1.1.sea.hqx
    A product of WAIS Inc.  Source is also available from
    ftp.wais.com:/pub/freeware/mac/src/wais-for-mac-1.1-src.sea.hqx

ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/freeware/mac/HyperWais.sea.hqx
    HyperWais - A Macintosh Hypercard client interface.
    currently at version 1.9.
    Requires System 7.0, MacTCP 1.1, and Hypercard 2.1 [all must
    be obtained separately].  Source is also available from:
    ftp.wais.com:/pub/freeware/mac/HyperWais.src.sea.hqx
    author - [e-mail] (Francois Schiettecatte)

ftp://ftp.einet.net/einet/mac/macwais1.28.sea.hqx
    MacWAIS is a shareware product of MCC.

ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/wais/clients/ms-dos/pcdist.zip
    pcwais - An MS-DOS client interface
    Based on Borland TurboVision and the Crynwr Packet Drivers.

ftp://oac.hsc.uth.tmc.edu/public/dos/misc/oacwais.exe
    oacwais - An MS-DOS client interface
    Based on FTP Software's PC/TCP.
    FTP Software's PC/TCP must be obtained separately.

ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/ibmpc/win3/util/wwais103.zip
    wwais - a Microsoft Windows 3.0 client interface
    Based on Visual Basic and Novell's LAN Workplace for DOS.
    LAN Workplace for DOS must be obtained separately.
    [Note: this client is no longer supported]

ftp://ridgisd.er.usgs.gov/software/wais/wnwais22a.zip
    WinWAIS - The USGS version of WAIS for Windows.
    Includes support for SLIP, ODI and CRYNWR packet drivers.
    Source is also available from
    ridgisd.er.usgs.gov:/software/wais/wnwsrc22.zip

ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/wais/pc/windows/waisman3.zip
    WAIS Manager [version 3.0] is a Winsock compliant WAIS client
    that supports multi-format documents and relevance feedback.
    A WINSOCK TCP/IP package must be obtained separately.

ftp://ftp.cnidr.org/pub/NIDR.tools/z39.50/pc/zman01.zip.
    zman - Z39.50 Manager [version 0.1] is a Windows 3.X client
    that supports multi-format documents and relevance feedback.
    It is written in Borland C/C++ and source is included.
    A WINSOCK TCP/IP package must be obtained separately.
    This code is currently in early alpha release.

ftp://ftp.einet.net/einet/pc/EIWAIS155.EXE
    WinWAIS - Version 1.55 of a Windows 3.X client.
    A self-extracting archive file of EINet Shareware winWAIS.
    Requires Windows 3.1 and Windows Sockets 1.1 which must
    be obtained separately.

ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/freeware/os2/os2wa11.zip
    os2wais - the OS/2 WAIS Client developed at the Libary of Congress.
    Requires IBM's TCP/IP for OS/2 [which must be obtained separately].
    Source is also available from
    ftp.wais.com:/pub/freeware/os2/os2sr11.zip
    author - [e-mail] (Kevin Oliveau)
           - [e-mail] (Julie Mills)

ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/freeware/ibm-mvs/dinowais.v0r4
    DinoWAIS - includes a WAIS client, indexer, and server for IBM's
    MVS operating environment.  The software runs under TSO/E (Time Sharing
    Option), and relies on ISPF (Interactive Systems Productivity Facility)
    for screen management.  DinoWAIS is based in WAIS b5.1 and includes
    full source.
    author - [e-mail] (Tim Gauslin)

You can also use Gopher to access WAIS.  For the availability of Gopher
clients, please visit the comp.infosystems.gopher newsgroup.

------------------------------

Subject: -7-  Where can I pick up the list of sources (e.g. databases) for WAIS?
Date: 6 May 94 00:00:01 EST

The current listing of publicly advertised sources is always available
via anonymous FTP from quake.think.com in the /wais directory in the file
wais-sources.tar.Z (a compressed UNIX tar file).
    ftp://quake.think.com/wais/wais-sources.tar.Z
    ftp://ftp.wais.com/pub/directory-of-servers/wais-sources.tar.Z
    ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/packages/infosystems/wais/wais-sources.tar.Z

Also available is a WAIS source description document. The document is
in 2 parts, one a list of WAIS sources and their descriptions grouped
into categories (the src-list) and the other the sources and descriptions
listed in alphabetical order (the annex).  These documents are maintained
by Chris Christoff <[e-mail]> and are available via anonymous FTP
from kirk.bu.oz.au:/pub/Bond_Uni/doc/wais in the files src-list.* and
annex.*.  The documents are mirrored on archive.orst.edu:/pub/doc/wais.

[please try nic.funet.fi:/pub/networking/services/wais first, if in Europe]

------------------------------