Easy Z39.50 search solution for non-technical users.
With Search::Z3950, a set of desired search types can be written by someone who knows Z39.50 search syntax and the requirements of the particular service. These search types are associated with each Z39.50 server and database (known as a Z39.50 "service" or "target") and are typically stored in a configuration file. The YAML file services.yml, which comes included in the Search-Z3950 distribution, is an example of such a file.
Using Search::Z3950 is easy. First, create a new instance of the module by passing in the necessary parameters, such as host, port, user, password, and databaseName. The delay parameter specifies the delay between search requests in seconds. The search_types parameter is an array that contains a set of desired search types for each Z39.50 server and database.
Once the Search::Z3950 module has been initialized, you can perform a search by calling the search() method and passing in the search type name and the search string as parameters. The results of the search can be accessed through the resulting object, which has a count() method that returns the number of records found and a record() method that returns a specific record.
Overall, Search::Z3950 significantly simplifies the process of creating Z39.50 clients in Perl, making it a great option for developers who are looking for an easy way to interact with Z39.50 servers and databases while minimizing the amount of programming knowledge required.
Version 0.05: N/A