From: foster@pyramid.unr.edu (Steve Foster)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.gopher
Subject: FAQ for veronica
Date: 22 Jan 93 00:14:42 GMT
Organization: University of Nevada, Reno  Department of Computer Science

Hello gopher-pholks --

We have written a draft FAQ for veronica.  It reflects the questions we
have been getting via email at Nevada, and to a lesser extent the queries
that have been posted to this list.

Please send us more questions for the FAQ.

Enjoy,
Steve Foster and Fred Barrie

FAQ follows:
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Common Questions and Answers about veronica, a title search and retrieval
system for use with the Internet Gopher.

The current version of this FAQ can be retrieved through gopher at
veronica.scs.unr.edu, in the veronica directory.

Archive-name: veronica-faq
Last-modified:  1993/01/21.
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List of questions in the veronica FAQ:

Q0: What is veronica?
Q1: How can I connect to veronica?
Q2: How can I get information about a site?
Q3: Why do I need to use 'item descriptor' to get context and host info?
Q4: How can I get my server into the veronica database?
Q5: How can I keep my server out of the veronica database?
Q6: How often is the database updated?
Q7: Where can I get the software to run veronica?
Q8: Where can I get the veronica dataset?
Q9: Why can't I get a reply from a veronica server?
Q10: What does "veronica" mean?
Q11: Why doesn't my server show up in veronica searches?


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Q0:		What is veronica?

A0:	veronica is a service that indexes titles of gopher items.  
	veronica servers provide keyword searches of titles of gopher 
	items.  A veronica search typically searches the menus of hundreds
	of gopher servers, perhaps all the gopher servers that are announced
	to the Internet.

	At present, there are no "veronica clients" per se;  veronica is 
	accessed through normal gopher clients.   veronica is tightly integrated
	with the gopher protocol.

	The veronica service is comprised of two functions:  
	1). Harvesting menu data from gopher servers, and preparing it for use;
	2). Offering searches of that database to gopher clients.   
	These two functions are not necessarily provided by the same host
	computer.  Most users and administrators of veronica search servers
	will not need to be concerned with the first phase of the process.
	Operators of veronica query-engines can obtain a prepared dataset 
	for use with the query server ( Q8 below ).

	veronica evolved as a solution to the problem of resource discovery 
	in the rapidly-expanding gopher meta-burrow.  At the University of 
	Nevada, there was an outcry for an easy way to find gopher-based 
	information without doing a menu-by-menu, site-by-site search.

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Q1:	How can I connect to veronica?

A1:	veronica must be accessed through a gopher client.  
	Assuming you have a gopher client, use it to connect to a gopher
	server which offers a link to a veronica server.  

	If your local gopher server does not already have a link to veronica, 
	use gopher to go to the server at gopher.micro.umn.edu ( port 70 ). 
	Choose the menu item "Other Gopher and Information Servers".  
	Choose veronica from that menu.  In step-by-step form it is like this:

	1. gopher to gopher.micro.umn.edu  by typing:
		gopher gopher.micro.umn.edu 70 
	   Note that this is a unix-client example. Other clients will 
	   have a different way of specifying the server.
	
	2.  go to the directory named 
		"8.  Other Gopher and Information Servers/"

	3.  select that item

	4.  go to the item named 
		"2.  Search titles in Gopherspace using veronica/"

	5.  select that item.  This item is a gopher link to the veronica 
	    directory at the University of Nevada.
	
	6.  There are two searches currently (1-21-93) in this directory:
		"1.  Search gopherspace by _SINGLE_ keyword veronica <?>"
		"2.  Search gopherspace by _partial Boolean_ veronica <?>"
	
	When you choose either search item,  you will be prompted to
	enter a keyword or keywords to define your title search.
	There are at present two versions of the veronica search-engine.  
	One version uses the NeXT's Digital Librarian and accepts only a 
	SINGLE word to search for.  The second version uses the WAIS index 
	with Gilbert's Boolean extensions; this version can accept limited 
	Boolean specifications.   The veronica directory contains a 
	help-file about the format of the Boolean queries.  veronica queries
	are not case-sensitive.

	The veronica server will return a gopher menu composed of items
	whose titles match your keyword specification.  These items are
	culled from the menus of (potentially) many gopher servers. 
	As with any gopher menu, you access an item of interest by 
	double-clicking it or hitting the <return> key.

	If you want to include veronica service on the menu of your local 
	gopher server,  you can find the gopher-item-descriptor for veronica 
	from this menu at Minnesota;  ask the administrator of your local 
	gopher server to include a link to that item on your local menu.


	If you DO NOT have a gopher client, you may access gopher and
	veronica by telneting to one of the telnet-accessible anonymous
	gopher clients.  This is what the Gopher-FAQ has to say about the
	telnet sites for gopher:

	***
	Here is a short list, use the site closest to you to minimize
     	network lag.

     Hostname                  IP#              Login   Area
     ------------------------- ---------------  ------  -------------
     consultant.micro.umn.edu  134.84.132.4     gopher  North America
     gopher.uiuc.edu           128.174.33.160   gopher  North America
     panda.uiowa.edu           128.255.40.201   panda   North America
     info.anu.edu.au           150.203.84.20    info    Australia
     gopher.chalmers.se        129.16.221.40    gopher  Sweden

     It is recommended that you run the client software instead of
     logging into the public telnet login sites.  A client uses the
     custom features of the local machine (mouse, scroll bars, etc.)  A
     local client is also faster. 

	*** end of inclusion from gopher-faq
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Q2: 	So I get a list of titles; How can I get information about 
	the location of items I am interested in?

A2:	Most gopher clients offer a "get information" command or an
	"item descriptor" menu choice.  On a macintosh it usually is 
	"command i"; on a unix client it will be an equal sign "="; 
	on a NeXT it also is a "command i".  This key sequence will give 
	information about the current item on the gopher menu.  The item-
	description will include the hostname of the gopher server which
	provides the item.  The item description also includes the 
	path (directory) of the item on its gopher server.


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Q3:	Why do I need to use "item descriptor" to get host and context
	information?

A3:	One simple answer to this is that three-times as many lines 
	would be needed on the screen to provide host and path information
	as well as title information.  The menus returned by veronica are
	often lengthy, even without this information.  Since the item-
	description function is included in most gopher clients, its use 
	makes for more compact screens.

	There is a deeper answer, of course ...

	The veronica server is designed to work with the query-type item
	of all gopher clients.  It can only return one set of data 
	in reply to each query, in accord with the gopher protocol.  There
	is no chance for further negotiation between the client and server.
	The veronica-search server could return visible lines about the
	host and context of each item, but it would need to do so for all 
	items, tripling the size of the return as mentioned above.  The 
	only alternative is to design special gopher CLIENTS which  either
	submit a follow-up query to the veronica server, requesting more
	information, or which present the item-descriptor in more palatable
	format.   Work is underway to define a client-server negotiation
	protocol to allow followup queries, using the gopher+ clients and
	servers.  Meanwhile, clients just are not capable of this feature.

	And deeper yet ...

	Context means many things ...  Is it adequate to know the host, path
	and type of an item, or do you want to know the last update time,
	the number of links to that item in the entire gopher network, 
	a unique internet-id for that data item, the names of veronica servers 
	referencing that item, and so forth?  The gopher+ protocol and other
	emerging protocols will allow us to maintain some of this information.
	The veronica developers at Nevada feel that it is preferable to use
	these standards as they become available, rather than to define
	ad-hoc document identifiers, etc. which are specific only to veronica.

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Q4:	How can I get my server into the veronica database?

A4:	Explicit registration is generally not required.  The veronica 
	data-collection software will find your gopher server IF it is
	registered with the Mother Gopher at Minnesota, OR IF it is 
	referenced on the menu of another gopher server which is registered
	at Minnesota.  Of course, the veronica data-harvesting algorithm 
	will not be able to access your server if you have restricted access 
	to your local site.

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Q5:	How can I keep my server OUT of the veronica database?

A5:	Sometimes gopher-administrators do not want their site to be
	indexed. The administrator of such a server will need to mail to
	gophadm@veronica.scs.unr.edu, and request their site not be included.

	This design is based on the well-founded assumption that any 
	registered gopher server, or a server accessible via the menu of
	a registered server, is intended to be accessible to users at any
	internet node.  The gopher protocol achieves its utility through
	this sort of sharing; gopher servers are provided with the "-s" 
	option should it be necessary to implement site restrictions.

	With the implementation of Gopher+ protocols, the veronica+ 
	protocol will allow gopher administrators to set a
	"veronica-index-off" flag. 

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Q6:	How often is the database updated?

A6:	Heretofore, the database was updated every two weeks.  A lot of 
	network traffic is generated by the indexing process.  We at U. Nevada
	thought it not optimal to index more frequently.  Most likely, we
	will index more often in future.

	The veronica development team is working on a standard protocol
	for locally-generated indexes, and a standardized method for
	collating these indexes at a central data site.  The post-processed
	dataset will then be redistributed to sites running veronica
	query-engines.  This approach will greatly reduce the number of
	gopher-walks and gopher-trees necessary to supply all veronica sites
	with data.

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Q7:	Where can I get the software to run veronica?

A7:	The NeXT-specific veronica retrieval software can be obtained
	by anonymous ftp from veronica.scs.unr.edu, in the "veronica"
	subdirectory.

	The veronica development team is finishing up the WAIS indexing
	programs and will have the software available via anonymous ftp
	hopefully by the end of January 93.

	The WAIS-veronica distribution will include small modifications to
	the WAIS index builder, as well as a WAIS-index query engine.	

	The WAIS-indexed version is prefered for three reasons:
	1.  runs on more platforms.
	2.  runs faster. 
	3.  allows partial Boolean searches.

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Q8:	Where can I get the veronica data set?

A8:	You can anonymous-ftp the full veronica dataset from 
	veronica.scs.unr.edu, in the "veronica" subdirectory.

	This data has been processed to eliminate redundant references,
	to avoid loops in the gopher network, and to remove most data
	that is known to be highly transient.

	If you are trying to set up a veronica server, PLEASE take a
	copy of this data, rather than initiating more gopher-tree
	processes.

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Q9:	Why can't I get a reply from a veronica server?

A9:	The most common problem is that the gopher client "hangs" because 
	the  results of the veronica search includes items of some type
	not recognized by the client.

	For example, a search will commence and there is some indication 
	that it is working, like a spinning wheel on a Mac or on a Unix client.
	However, when the wheel stops spinning the Gopher client says 
	"Nothing  available".

	The problem is that some gopher clients can not handle certain objects
	(e.g., a PC client is unable to understand a Unix sound file).
	Many clients are written to treat as empty any directories containing
	non-standard or unrecognized datatypes.

	The solution will be in the Gopher+ protocol.   That protocol
	will allow a client and server to have a "conversation" about
	what types of data the client can and cannot handle.

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Q10:	What does "veronica" mean?

A10:	very easy rodent-oriented net-wide index to computerized archives.

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Q11:	Why doesn't my server show up in veronica searches?

A11:	Most commonly this is because your server was not accessible during
	the time we last collected data.  We will now preserve older data
	files, and use them in lieu of current data for those servers that
	cannot be reached during the data harvest.

	Be sure your server is registered with the Mother of Gophers, or is
	referenced on the menu of a server which IS registered.  Be sure you
	have not restricted off-site access.

	If these don't work, send mail to gophadm@veronica.scs.unr.edu