Zebra - User's Guide and Reference
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# The Zebra Configuration File

The Zebra configuration file, read by `zebraidx` and `zebrasrv` defaults to `zebra.cfg` unless specified by `-c` option.

You can edit the configuration file with a normal text editor. parameter names and values are separated by colons in the file. Lines starting with a hash sign (`#`) are treated as comments.

If you manage different sets of records that share common characteristics, you can organize the configuration settings for each type into "groups". When `zebraidx` is run and you wish to address a given group you specify the group name with the `-g` option. In this case settings that have the group name as their prefix will be used by `zebraidx`. If no `-g` option is specified, the settings without prefix are used.

In the configuration file, the group name is placed before the option name itself, separated by a dot (.). For instance, to set the record type for group `public` to `grs.sgml` (the SGML-like format for structured records) you would write:

        public.recordType: grs.sgml

To set the default value of the record type to `text` write:

        recordType: text

The available configuration settings are summarized below. They will be explained further in the following sections.

group .recordType[.name]: `type`

  Specifies how records with the file extension name should be handled by the indexer. This option may also be specified as a command line option (`-t`). Note that if you do not specify a name, the setting applies to all files. In general, the record type specifier consists of the elements (each element separated by dot), fundamental-type, file-read-type and arguments. Currently, two fundamental types exist, `text` and `grs`.

group.recordId: `record-id-spec`

  Specifies how the records are to be identified when updated. See the Section called Locating Records.

group.database: `database`

  Specifies the Z39.50 database name.

group.storeKeys: `boolean`

  Specifies whether key information should be saved for a given group of records. If you plan to update/delete this type of records later this should be specified as 1; otherwise it should be 0 (default), to save register space. See the Section called Indexing with File Record IDs.

group.storeData: `boolean`

  Specifies whether the records should be stored internally in the Zebra system files. If you want to maintain the raw records yourself, this option should be false (0). If you want Zebra to take care of the records for you, it should be true(1).

register: `register-location`

  Specifies the location of the various register files that Zebra uses to represent your databases. See the Section called Register Location.

shadow: `register-location`

  Enables the safe update facility of Zebra, and tells the system where to place the required, temporary files. See the Section called Safe Updating - Using Shadow Registers.

lockDir: `directory`

  Directory in which various lock files are stored.

keyTmpDir: `directory`

  Directory in which temporary files used during zebraidx's update phase are stored.

setTmpDir: `directory`

  Specifies the directory that the server uses for temporary result sets. If not specified `/tmp` will be used.

profilePath: `path`

  Specifies a path of profile specification files. The path is composed of one or more directories separated by colon. Similar to PATH for UNIX systems.

attset: `filename`

  Specifies the filename(s) of attribute set files for use in searching. At least the Bib-1 set should be loaded (`bib1.att`). The `profilePath` setting is used to look for the specified files. See the Section called The Attribute Set (.att) Files in Chapter 8

memMax: `size`

  Specifies `size` of internal memory to use for the zebraidx program. The amount is given in megabytes - default is 4 (4 MB).

root: `dir`

  Specifies a directory base for Zebra. All relative paths given (in profilePath, register, shadow) are based on this directory. This setting is useful if your Zebra server is running in a different directory from where `zebra.cfg` is located.

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