Project California or Using
Microsoft Index Server started what should be followed through on in the DS420
course. The project started by taking a large text based file of Distributed
Systems (DS) related articles and converting them to simple HTML. Microsoft IIS
Server was configured and Option Pack 4 was added in order to get Index Server
up and running. The interface was derived from the Microsoft example .htm, .htx
and .idx files supplied IIS and Index Server. A virtual directory was created on
the web server in order to host the separate HTML articles. The Content Index
service constantly scans the virtual directories for new articles that have been
added and will index these articles. It is based on that fact that we encourage
a future implementation of this project in DS420. Below are bulleted issues to
consider in the continued use of this site:
- In the event another large text based file of
articles is collected the parsing code has been provided. The code will read
the specified file name and start numbering the files parsed at the seed
number provided.
- This project needs to be loaded onto a DePaul server
that can be seen from the internet. NT Server 4.0, Service Pack 3 and Option
Pack 4 were used for this implementation.
- A virtual directory needs to be created to house the
DS corpus, or body of articles.
- The supporting query pages must be installed. These
pages could be expanded on to build queries, but the same things can be
accomplished through understanding how to write searches making use of
Boolean etc.
- A future interface to support addition of articles
by DS students could be constructed. Possibly through staging them in
another area and writing a job to takes them from stage to the Index Server.
In conclusion project California found setting up
Microsoft Index Server over the DS corpus to be very an interesting learning
experience. The ease with which a once set up Index Server can be added to is
probably one of its single greatest strengths. Literally all that needs to be
done is copy the new document(s) into the virtual directory on the server!
Content Index service recognizes the article and indexes it accordingly. It is
our vision that the future implementation is followed through on by DS students.
Students could assist in contributing to the corpus as part of the classroom
experience or extra credit. The source of information on DS articles that this
site could eventually be for both students and faculty is phenomenal!!!!!
