From:	MERC::"uunet!CRVAX.SRI.COM!RELAY-INFO-VAX" 19-JAN-1993 09:40:17.18
To:	info-vax@kl.sri.com
CC:	
Subj:	WAIS client and server info

>> In article <009669e7.eff87dc0.20168@elros.stg.trw.com>, powers@ELROS.STG.TRW.COM writes...
>> # 
>> #1.  Can someone provide me with a simple example of how to run the WAIS

From the WAIS FAQ:

/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 the
/client running at Thinking Machines.  To do this you must use TELNET to
/connect to quake.think.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.

Otherwise?

Server or client?

The client is trivial, the server... don't know - don't use it, the biological 
databases are provided by other sites already.

The readme says:

/vms-client - a vms port of a simple WAIS client.
/vms-server - a vms port of the WAIS B2 server to Process
/        Software TCP/IP.
/
/        The VMS code has the following deficiencies:  There
/        are one or two references to hard-coded paths.  You
/        can find them by searching for FULLTON.  The indexer
/        is amazingly slow.  It also lacks support for wild-card
/        indexing.  Any good VMS programmer (which I am not) can
/        fix this.  Note:  before indexing, make sure that the text
/        files are in stream_lf format.  There is an included FDL file
/        that you can use with CONVERT to do this.
  
No one feel challenged by this? :)

> 	so did I... can someone who actually *uses* WAIS post some
> 	clues/details/tips please? :-} (I feel like this is an important
> 	piece of software.. but.. if only I could figure it out!!)

How about:

$       Wais_Host = "welchlab.welch.jhu.edu"
$       Wais_Port = "210"
$       Wais_Base = "OMIM"
$       Define/User_Mode Sys$Input Sys$Command
$       WAIS -h 'Wais_Host -d 'Wais_Base -p 'Wais_Port 'Wais_Word

(sorry, cut this out of the menu, you can do it all on one line of course.)

You find this info in the .src files on the server, there should be a complete 
list of registered servers at think.com

> 	Can someone post what/where *the* latest VMS version is?

The FAQ implies that SunSITE.unc.edu is the ftp site in 
/pub/wais/vms/vms-server/* and /pub/wais/vms/vms-client/*

The client is WAIS release 8 b2, (Fri Jul 19 1991) but that was a year ago,
maybe there is a more recent one somewhere? release 8 b5 looks like the
current level. However a lot of this is better done through the Gopher
client/servers now. Unless you are planning to add new data to the net. 

There is a waisserver and waisindex in the server directories.

There is an Xwais and a MXwais client too, but they would need hacking a bit 
I guess. These are at think.com

Finally, a port of Don Gilberts Boolean WAIS server/indexer to VMS would be
good for complex databases of information which a significant symbolic content
and such. 

Anyway, hope this helps.

Jasper Rees
Oxford University Molecular Biology Data Centre
and The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

jasper@molbiol.ox.ac.uk