Enable Federated Search

Use the following procedure to enable the DAH to use federated search with Z39.50, K2, or Ultraseek query servers.

An earlier type of configuration for DAH federated search for Z39.50 query servers is still supported. Instead of using the [Federated] section and configuring the query server types by using the [DistributedEngineN] section or the [IDOLServerN] section, you can use the following procedure:

  1. In the [Server] section, set the following parameters:

    • FederatedLibrary. Enter the name of the library file that provides the federated search functionality.

    • FederatedResponseFormat. Enter the format to use for query responses. It must be a format that the query servers that you want to communicate with accept. The default value is XML.

    • FederatedDefaultRelevance. Enter the relevance value to display for results that the query servers produce (this is necessary because the servers do not return relevance values for results). The default value is 90.

    • FederatedQueryFormat. Enter PQF or CQL to indicate the format to use to query the query servers that you want to communicate with. The default value is PQF.

      NOTE: PQF (Prefix Query Format) and CQL (Common Query Language) are non-IDOL syntax standards. For more information, refer to the external documentation.

    • FederatedSecurityType. Enter the name of the federated security type.

    • FederatedSecurityKeys. Enter the security string that contains federated information (user name, group, password).

  2. In the [Engines] section, increase the Number setting by one for each of the query servers that you want to query. Use the EngineN setting to list the servers in consecutive order, and to specify their IP addresses and port numbers. Use the TypeN setting to specify the type of the servers (Z39.50 servers are type 3). For example:

    [Engines]
    Number=2
    Engine0=123.45.67.89:9949
    Type0=3
    Engine1=123.45.01.23:9787
    Type1=3

    If a Z39.50 server requires authentication, you must also set the RequiresAuthenticationN setting to True for this server in the [Engines] section. For example:

    [Engines]
    Number=2
    Engine0=123.45.67.89:9949
    Type0=3
    Engine1=123.45.01.23:9787
    Type1=3
    RequiresAuthentication1=True