Zebra - User's Guide and Reference
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# Chapter 3. Quick Start

In this section, we will test the system by indexing a small set of sample GILS records that are included with the Zebra distribution, running Zebra a server against the newly created database, and searching the indexes with a client that connects to that server.

Go to the `examples/gils` subdirectory of the distribution archive. The 48 test records are located in the sub directory `records`. To index these, type:

       zebraidx update records

In this command, the word `update` is followed by the name of a directory: `zebraidx` updates all files in the hierarchy rooted at that directory.

If your indexing command was successful, you are now ready to fire up a server. To start a server on port 2100, type:

       zebrasrv @:2100

The Zebra index that you have just created has a single database named `Default`. The database contains records structured according to the GILS profile, and the server will return records in USMARC, GRS-1, or SUTRS format depending on what the client asks for.

To test the server, you can use any Z39.50 client. For instance, you can use the demo command-line client that comes with YAZ:

       yaz-client localhost:2100

When the client has connected, you can type:

       Z> find surficial
       Z> show 1

The default retrieval syntax for the client is USMARC, and the default element set is `F` (``full record''). To try other formats and element sets for the same record, try:

       Z>format sutrs
       Z>show 1
       Z>format grs-1
       Z>show 1
       Z>format xml
       Z>show 1
       Z>elements B
       Z>show 1

> Note: You may notice that more fields are returned when your client requests SUTRS, GRS-1 or XML records. This is normal - not all of the GILS data elements have mappings in the USMARC record format.

If you've made it this far, you know that your installation is working, but there's a certain amount of voodoo going on - for example, the mysterious incantations in the `zebra.cfg` file. In order to help us understand these fully, the next chapter will work through a series of increasingly complex example configurations.

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WIN32 |  | Example Configurations