<!ENTITY % idcommon SYSTEM "common/common.ent">
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-<!-- $Id: book.xml,v 1.16 2007-06-06 11:33:18 adam Exp $ -->
+<!-- $Id: book.xml,v 1.20 2007-06-20 08:25:58 adam Exp $ -->
<book id="book">
<bookinfo>
<title>Pazpar2 - User's Guide and Reference</title>
<simpara>
Pazpar2 is a high-performance, user interface-independent, data
model-independent metasearching
- middleware featuring merging, relevance ranking, record sorting,
+ middle-ware featuring merging, relevance ranking, record sorting,
and faceted results.
</simpara>
<simpara>
<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>
- Pazpar2 is a stand-alone metasearch client with a webservice API, designed
+ Pazpar2 is a stand-alone metasearch client with a web-service API, designed
to be used either from a browser-based client (JavaScript, Flash, Java,
etc.), from from server-side code, or any combination of the two.
Pazpar2 is a highly optimized client designed to
relevance-ranking and sorting by arbitrary data content, and facet
analysis for browsing purposes. It is designed to be data model
independent, and is capable of working with MARC, DublinCore, or any
- other XML-structured response format -- XSLT is used to normalize and extract
+ other <ulink url="&url.xml;">XML</ulink>-structured response format
+ -- <ulink url="&url.xslt;">XSLT</ulink> is used to normalize and extract
data from retrieval records for display and analysis. It can be used
- against any server which supports the Z39.50 protocol. Proprietary
+ against any server which supports the
+ <ulink url="&url.z39.50;">Z39.50</ulink> protocol. Proprietary
backend modules can be used to support a large number of other protocols
(please contact Index Data for further information about this).
</para>
<para>
Additional functionality such as
user management, attractive displays are expected to be implemented by
- applications that use pazpar2. Pazpar2 is user interface independent.
- Its functionality is exposed through a simple REST-style webservice API,
- designed to be simple to use from an Ajax-enbled browser, Flash
+ applications that use Pazpar2. Pazpar2 is user interface independent.
+ Its functionality is exposed through a simple REST-style web-service API,
+ designed to be simple to use from an Ajax-enabled browser, Flash
animation, Java applet, etc., or from a higher-level server-side language
like PHP or Java. Because session information can be shared between
browser-based logic and your server-side scripting, there is tremendous
- flexibility in how you implement your business logic on top of pazpar2.
+ flexibility in how you implement your business logic on top of Pazpar2.
</para>
<para>
- Once you launch a search in pazpar2, the operation continues behind the
+ Once you launch a search in Pazpar2, the operation continues behind the
scenes. Pazpar2 connects to servers, carries out searches, and
retrieves, deduplicates, and stores results internally. Your application
code may periodically inquire about the status of an ongoing operation,
normalized to XML/UTF-8, and then further normalized using XSLT to a
simple internal representation that is suitable for analysis. By
providing XSLT stylesheets for different kinds of result records, you
- can tune pazpar2 to work against different kinds of information
+ can tune Pazpar2 to work against different kinds of information
retrieval servers. Finally, metadata is extracted, in a configurable
way, from this internal record, to support display, merging, ranking,
result set facets, and sorting. Pazpar2 is not bound to a specific model
to performance and economy that we use in our indexing engines, so that
you can focus on building your application, without worrying about the
details of metasearch logic. You can devote all of your attention to
- usability and let pazpar2 do what it does best -- metasearch.
+ usability and let Pazpar2 do what it does best -- metasearch.
</para>
<para>
If you wish to connect to commercial or other databases which do not
support open standards, please contact Index Data. We have a licensing
- agreement with a third party vendor which will enable pazpar2 to access
+ agreement with a third party vendor which will enable Pazpar2 to access
thousands of online databases, in addition the vast number of catalogs
and online services that support the Z39.50 protocol.
</para>
approach to performance, and attempting to make maximum use of the
capabilities of modern browsers. The demo user interface that
accompanies the distribution is but one example. If you think of new
- ways of using pazpar2, we hope you'll share them with us, and if we
+ ways of using Pazpar2, we hope you'll share them with us, and if we
can provide assistance with regards to training, design, programming,
integration with different backends, hosting, or support, please don't
- hesitate to contact us. If you'd like to see functionality in pazpar2
+ hesitate to contact us. If you'd like to see functionality in Pazpar2
that is not there today, please don't hesitate to contact us. It may
already be in our development pipeline, or there might be a
possibility for you to help out by sponsoring development time or
<chapter id="installation">
<title>Installation</title>
<para>
+ The Pazpar2 package very small. It includes documentation as well
+ as the Pazpar2 server. The package also includes a simple user
+ interface test1 which consists of a single HTML page and a single
+ JavaScript file to illustrate the use of Pazpar2.
+ </para>
+ <para>
Pazpar2 depends on the following tools/libraries:
<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term><ulink url="&url.yaz;">YAZ</ulink></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The popular Z39.50 toolkit for the C language. YAZ must be
- compiled with Libxml2/Libxslt support.
+ The popular Z39.50 toolkit for the C language.
+ YAZ <emphasis>must</emphasis> be compiled with Libxml2/Libxslt support.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
Components for Unicode (ICU)</ulink></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- ICU provides Unicode support for non-english languages with
+ ICU provides Unicode support for non-English languages with
character sets outside the range of 7bit ASCII, like
- Greek, Russian, German and Frensh. Pazpar2 uses the ICU
- unicode character conversions, unicode normalization, case
+ Greek, Russian, German and French. Pazpar2 uses the ICU
+ Unicode character conversions, Unicode normalization, case
folding and other fundamental operations needed in
tokenization, normalization and ranking of records.
</para>
<section id="installation.unix">
<title>Installation on Unix (from Source)</title>
<para>
- Here is a quick step-by-step guide on how to compile the
- tools that Pazpar2 uses. Only few systems have none of the required
- tools binary packages. If, for example, Libxml2/libxslt are already
- installed as development packages use these.
+ The latest source code for Pazpar2 is available from
+ <ulink url="&url.pazpar2.download;"/>.
+ Only few systems have none of the required
+ tools binary packages.
+ If, for example, Libxml2/libXSLT libraries
+ are already installed as development packages use these.
</para>
<para>
su
make install
</screen>
+ <para>
+ The <literal>make install</literal> will install manpages as well as the
+ Pazpar2 server, <literal>pazpar2</literal>,
+ in PREFIX<literal>/sbin</literal>.
+ By default, PREFIX is <literal>/usr/local/</literal> . This can be
+ changed with configure option <option>--prefix</option>.
+ </para>
</section>
- <section id="installation.debian">
- <title>Installation on Debian GNU/Linux</title>
+ <section id="installation.test1">
+ <title>Installation of test1 interface</title>
<para>
- All dependencies for Pazpar2 are available as
- <ulink url="&url.debian;">Debian</ulink>
- packages for the sarge (stable in 2005) and etch (testing in 2005)
- distributions.
+ In this section we outline how to install a simple interface that
+ is part of the Pazpar2 source package. Note that Debian users can
+ save time by just installing package <literal>pazpar2-test1</literal>.
</para>
<para>
- The procedures for Debian based systems, such as
- <ulink url="&url.ubuntu;">Ubuntu</ulink> is probably similar
+ A web server must be installed and running on the system, such as Apache.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Start the Pazpar2 daemon using the 'in-source' binary of the Pazpar2
+ daemon.
+ <screen>
+ cd etc
+ cp pazpar2.cfg.dist pazpar2.cfg
+ ../src/pazpar2 -f pazpar2.cfg -t edu.xml
+ </screen>
+ This will start a Pazpar2 listener on port 8004. It will proxy
+ HTTP requests to localhost - port 80, which we asssume will be the regular
+ HTTP server on the system. Inspect and modify pazpar2.cfg as needed
+ if this is to be changed. Make a new console and move to the
+ other stuff. For installation of Pazpar2 as a daemon, refer to the
+ manpage of Pazpar2.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The test1 UI is located in <literal>www/test1</literal>. Ensure this
+ directory is available to the web server by either copying
+ <literal>test1</literal> to the document root, create a symlink or
+ use Apache's <literal>Alias</literal> directive.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The interface test1 interface should now be available on port 8004.
</para>
- <screen>
- apt-get install libyaz-dev
- apt-get install libicu36-dev
- </screen>
<para>
- With these packages installed, the usual configure + make
- procedure can be used for Pazpar2 as outlined in
- <xref linkend="installation.unix"/>.
+ If you don't see the test1 interface. See if test1 is really available
+ on the same URL but on port 80. If it's not, the Apache configuration
+ (or other) is not correct.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ In order to use Apache as frontend for the interface on port 80
+ for public access etc., refer to
+ <xref linkend="installation.apache2proxy"/>.
+ </para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id="installation.debian">
+ <title>Installation on Debian GNU/Linux</title>
+ <para>
+ Index Data provides Debian packages for Pazpar2. These are prepared
+ for Debian versions Etch and Lenny (as of 2007).
+ Theses packages are available at
+ <ulink url="&url.pazpar2.download.debian;"/>.
</para>
</section>
</para>
<para>
- Traditionnally Pazpar2 interprets URL paths with suffix
+ Traditionally Pazpar2 interprets URL paths with suffix
<literal>/search.pz2</literal>.
The
<ulink
<example id="installation.apache2proxy.example">
<title>Apache 2 proxy configuration</title>
<para>
- If Pazpar2 is running on port 9004 and the portal is using
+ If Pazpar2 is running on port 8004 and the portal is using
<filename>search.pz2</filename> inside portal in directory
<filename>/myportal/</filename> we could use the following
Apache 2 configuration:
Allow from all
</Proxy>
- ProxyPass /myportal/search.pz2 http://localhost:9004/search.pz2
+ ProxyPass /myportal/search.pz2 http://localhost:8004/search.pz2
ProxyVia Off
</IfModule>
]]></screen>
</chapter>
<chapter id="using">
- <title>Using pazpar2</title>
+ <title>Using Pazpar2</title>
<para>
This chapter provides a general introduction to the use and
- deployment of pazpar2.
+ deployment of Pazpar2.
</para>
<section id="architecture">
metasearching functionality to your application, exposing this
functionality using a simple webservice API that can be accessed
from any number of development environments. In particular, it is
- possible to combine pazpar2 either with your server-side dynamic
+ possible to combine Pazpar2 either with your server-side dynamic
website scripting, with scripting or code running in the browser, or
with any combination of the two. Pazpar2 is an excellent tool for
building advanced, Ajax-based user interfaces for metasearch
functionality, but it isn't a requirement -- you can choose to use
- pazpar2 entirely as a backend to your regular server-side scripting.
- When you do use pazpar2 in conjunction
+ Pazpar2 entirely as a backend to your regular server-side scripting.
+ When you do use Pazpar2 in conjunction
with browser scripting (JavaScript/Ajax, Flash, applets,
etc.), there are special considerations.
</para>
server-side scripting. Because the security sandbox environment of
most browser-side programming environments only allows communication
with the server from which the enclosing HTML page or object
- originated, pazpar2 is designed so that it can act as a transparent
+ originated, Pazpar2 is designed so that it can act as a transparent
proxy in front of an existing webserver (see <xref
- linkend="pazpar2_conf"/> for details). In this mode, all regular
+ linkend="pazpar2_conf"/> for details).
+ In this mode, all regular
HTTP requests are transparently passed through to your webserver,
- while pazpar2 only intercepts search-related webservice requests.
+ while Pazpar2 only intercepts search-related webservice requests.
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
+ Pazpar2 can also work behind
+ a reverse Proxy. Refer to <xref linkend="installation.apache2proxy"/>)
+ for more information.
+ This allows your existing HTTP server to operate on port 80 as usual.
+ Pazpar2 can be started on another (internal) port.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
Sometimes, it may be necessary to implement functionality on your
regular webserver that makes use of search results, for example to
implement data import functionality, emailing results, history
lists, personal citation lists, interlibrary loan functionality
,etc. Fortunately, it is simple to exchange information between
- pazpar2, your browser scripting, and backend server-side scripting.
+ Pazpar2, your browser scripting, and backend server-side scripting.
You can send a session ID and possibly a record ID from your browser
- code to your server code, and from there use pazpar2s webservice API
+ code to your server code, and from there use Pazpar2s webservice API
to access result sets or individual records. You could even 'hide'
- all of pazpar2s functionality between your own API implemented on
+ all of Pazpar2s functionality between your own API implemented on
the server-side, and access that from the browser or elsewhere. The
possibilities are just about endless.
</para>
that they are organized in any particular way. The only assumption
is that data comes packaged in a form that the software can work
with (presently, that means XML or MARC), and that you can provide
- the necessary information to massage it into pazpar2's internal
+ the necessary information to massage it into Pazpar2's internal
record abstraction.
</para>
<para>
- Handling retrieval records in pazpar2 is a two-step process. First,
+ Handling retrieval records in Pazpar2 is a two-step process. First,
you decide which data elements of the source record you are
interested in, and you specify any desired massaging or combining of
elements using an XSLT stylesheet (MARC records are automatically
- normalized to MARCXML before this step). If desired, you can run
- multiple XSLT stylesheets in series to accomplish this, but the
- output of the last one should be a representation of the record in a
- schema that pazpar2 understands.
+ normalized to <ulink url="&url.marcxml;">MARCXML</ulink> before this step).
+ If desired, you can run multiple XSLT stylesheets in series to accomplish
+ this, but the output of the last one should be a representation of the
+ record in a schema that Pazpar2 understands.
</para>
<para>
<para>
Elements should belong to the namespace
- http://www.indexdata.com/pazpar2/1.0. If the root node contains the
+ <literal>http://www.indexdata.com/pazpar2/1.0</literal>.
+ If the root node contains the
attribute 'mergekey', then every record that generates the same
merge key (normalized for case differences, white space, and
truncation) will be joined into a cluster. In other words, you
<section id="client">
<title>Client development overview</title>
<para>
- You can use pazpar2 from any environment that allows you to use
+ You can use Pazpar2 from any environment that allows you to use
webservices. The initial goal of the software was to support
Ajax-based applications, but there literally are no limits to what
- you can do. You can use pazpar2 from Javascript, Flash, Java, etc.,
+ you can do. You can use Pazpar2 from Javascript, Flash, Java, etc.,
on the browser side, and from any development environment on the
server side, and you can pass session tokens and record IDs freely
around between these environments to build sophisticated applications.
</para>
<para>
- The webservice API of pazpar2 is described in detail in <xref
+ The webservice API of Pazpar2 is described in detail in <xref
linkend="pazpar2_protocol"/>.
</para>
to handle a broad range of different server behavior, through
configurable query mapping and record normalization. If you develop
configuration, stylesheets, etc., for a new type of resources, we
- encourage you to share your work. But you can also use pazpar2 to
+ encourage you to share your work. But you can also use Pazpar2 to
connect to hundreds of resources that do not support standard
protocols.
</para>
<para>
For a growing number of resources, Z39.50 is all you need. Over the
last few years, a number of commercial, full-text resources have
- implemented Z39.50. These can be used through pazpar2 with little or
+ implemented Z39.50. These can be used through Pazpar2 with little or
no effort. Resources that use non-standard record formats will
require a bit of XSLT work, but that's all.
</para>
<para>
But the bottom line is that working with non-standard resources in
metasearching is really, really hard. If you want to build a
- project with pazpar2, and you need access to resources with
+ project with Pazpar2, and you need access to resources with
non-standard interfaces, we can help. We run gateways to more than
2,000 popular, commercial databases and other resources,
making it simple
- to plug them directly into pazpar2. For a small annual fee per
+ to plug them directly into Pazpar2. For a small annual fee per
database, we can help you establish connections to your licensed
resources. Meanwhile, you can help! If you build your own
standards-compliant gateways, host them for others, or share the
<para>
There are those who will ask us why we are using Z39.50 as our
- switchboard langyage rather than a different protocol. Basically,
+ switchboard language rather than a different protocol. Basically,
we believe that Z39.50 is presently the most widely implemented
information retrieval protocol that has the level of functionality
required to support a good metasearching experience (structured
<section id="unicode">
<title>Unicode Compliance</title>
<para>
- Pazpar2 is unicode compliant and language and locale aware to
- the exted the used backend Z39.50 targets are. Just a few bad
- behaving targets can spoil the search experience considerably
- if for example Greek, Russian or otherwise non 7-bit ASCII
+ Pazpar2 is Unicode compliant and language and locale aware but relies
+ on character encoding for the targets to be specified correctly if
+ the targets themselves are not UTF-8 based (most aren't).
+ Just a few bad behaving targets can spoil the search experience
+ considerably if for example Greek, Russian or otherwise non 7-bit ASCII
search terms are entered. In these cases some targets return
- records irrelevant to the query, and the result screens wil be
+ records irrelevant to the query, and the result screens will be
cluttered with noise.
</para>
<para>
While noise from misbehaving targets can not be removed, it can
- be reduced using truely unicode based ranking. This is an
+ be reduced using truly Unicode based ranking. This is an
option which is available to the system administrator if ICU
support is compiled into Pazpar2, see
<xref linkend="installation"/> for details.
</para>
</section>
- </chapter> <!-- Using pazpar2 -->
+ </chapter> <!-- Using Pazpar2 -->
<reference id="reference">
<title>Reference</title>