Compass Server 3.0 Developer's Guide
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This part of the document describes how the Netscape Compass Server robots, and how to modify their behavior.
The Compass Server robot is responsible for identifying resources on a network to store in the Compass Server database as resource descriptions. You can run the robot and customize most aspects of its behavior interactively through the Robot page of the Compass Server Administration Interface. The Netscape Compass Server Administrator's Guide (available through the Manuals button in the Administrator Interface) describes how to use the Compass Server Administration Interface.
For more complex customizations, however, you need to program the robot directly, by either modifying its configuration files, writing robot application functions, or perhaps both.
Many aspects of customizing Compass Server robots are similar to programming Netscape web servers through the Netscape Server API (NSAPI). If you are not already acquainted with Server Application Functions (SAFs), parameter blocks, and other basic aspects of NSAPI, you should consult the Netscape NSAPI Programmer's Guide before continuing with this guide.
You can find the NSAPI Programmer's Guide at:
http://developer.netscape.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/nsapi/index.htm
This part includes chapters that provide reference information on filtering functions and the API for writing your own robot application functions. The chapters are:
Overview of how the Compass Server robots operate.
This chapter lists the process parameters you can configure to modify robot behavior.
This chapter lists the pre-defined robot application functions you can use to modify robot filtering behavior.
This chapter discusses how to define new robot application functions to extend robot filtering behavior.
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Last Updated: 02/07/98 20:49:08
Any sample code included above is provided for your use on an "AS IS" basis, under the Netscape License Agreement - Terms of Use