Veronica
Veronica is a programs that perform searches in Gopherspace. Veronica borrows its name from characters in the same comic strip from which the ftp search program "Archie" borrows its name. Similar to Archie searches of ftp servers, Veronica searches gopherspace by matching keywords to the names of Gopher files and/or directories.
Getting Started with Veronica
To use either Veronica you need to access a Veronica host through the Gopher menu on your local Gopher server. If your account is on u.cc.utah.edu, type gopher at the Unix prompt. You will automatically connect to the gopher server gopher.utah.edu.
Others can connect to the University of Utah Gopher by typing gopher gopher.utah.edu.
To access Veronica searches on gopher.utah.edu, select item 11 at the main menu
11. Search titles in Gopherspace using veronica/
Search Types
At this point, you will notice that there are two types of Veronica searches from which to choose. Other Gopher servers will likely also make available these two kind of searches.
Search Gopherspace by Keywords in Titles
This search will find ALL TYPES of resources whose titles contain your specified search words. The resources may be of any Gopher data TYPE; e.g. ascii documents, gopher directories, image files, binary files, etc
Search Gopher DIRECTORIES ONLY for keywords in Titles
This search will find only Gopher DIRECTORIES whose titles contain the specified words. This search can be very useful to find only major holdings of information which relate to your query. After veronica finds the gopher directories, you can open any of them to see the contents in more detail. This is especially useful to avoid being overwhelmed by
too many results if you are searching with a common word such as "women" or "internet"!
Selecting a Server
For Veronica searches, you need to select a Veronica server to search gopherspace for you. As you will note, there are several hosts to choose from for this task. Though hypothetically all Veronica servers are equal, in practice there can be considerrable differences among Veronica servers. If one returns an inadequate number of links, try another server. The same goes for when your favorite server is busy. Also, at different times the traffic can affect the turnaround on a Veronica search. In these situations, one potentially effective strategy is to pick one where you think there might be fewer users. If it is 3 a.m. at a sever on another coninent, it is likely that there will be fewer users on that server, thus making a successful connection more likely. All things being equal though, it is best to select one nearest you. There will be less distance and therefore fewer interconnections necessary to get the information to you. This will also limit the potential drag on other user's bandwidth that your serch might have.
Performing a Veronica Search
O.k., enough worry over search type and server selections, to connect to a Veronica server, select the connection you want by using the arrow key, or by typing the selection number, and pressing return. Once you have selected a type of Veronica search and a Veronica server, a dialogue box will appear in which you will type in the keyword for which you want to search.
Entering Your Query
Here you will enter your query words. Search words must be at least two characters long. Shorter words will be ignored. The search is NOT case-sensitive. You may get better results by entering a multi-word query rather than a single word. Multiple word queries will find only those items whose titles contain ALL of the specified words. For instance, "women" will find 5223 items; but "league women voters" will find 126 items. Be as specific as you can. It also helps to be imaginative. Think about how gophers are organized; the information you want may not be found under "league of women voters", but under the more general heading of "politics". A multiple-word query does not require that the words be adjacent in the title, nor that they appear in any particular order. So, "marx brothers" will locate the same items as "brothers marx".
Operators
An important tool in Veronica queries are called "operators." They help to specify the parameters of a search query. Veronica understands the logical operators and, not, or, (, and ).
and
and is a connector that tells Veronica to search for titles that have both of the words in them. If you use a simple multiple-word query, it is the same as using AND between the words. For instance "acid rain" is the same query as "rain and acid". "League women voters" is the same as "league and women and voters". Using and to create a tightly-focused query, thereby elminating many links that might not be entirely relevant to your search.
not
not is a disjunctive command that tells Veronica to return only items that contain the first and not the second of the two it joins. For example pasta not wine would look only for those items that contained "pasta" and did not contain "wine."
or
or tells Veronica to look for titles that have either of the names connected by it, without requiring both words. or will often produce a large number of links, many of which will likely be useless, but some of which might useful that you might have missed otherwise. Because the odds heavily favor having to wade through even more confusing information to find what you want, it is best that you use or very rarely. or is best used in conjunction with other operators, for example
.
( , )
As the above note on or suggests, operators ( and ) are useful in writing complex queries, keeping separate conflicting different connections or disjunctions.
*
An asterisk, * at the trailing end of a query word is a "wildcard" that will match anything. Use it as a limited form of wildcard search. The asterisk character may be used ONLY at the end of words; the search will fail if a * is placed within a word or at the beginning of a word.
Query Variables
Thre are a number ov variables that can help taylor your search. The symbols used to mark these variables are called "flags." Flags can appear anywhere in the query command.
-m
Like the Archie command maxhits, the -m flag sets the maximum number of items for Veronica to find.
-t
The -t flag limits the Veronica search to items of specified data when included in a query.In this way, you can specify text files, directories, sounds, images, and/or other specific resources. You can specify more than one type of resource by typing its corresponding character immediately after the -t flag.
Official gopher types, from the Gopher Protocol Document, are:
0 -- Text File
1 -- Directory
2 -- CSO name server
4 -- Mac HQX file.
5 -- PC binary
7 -- Full Text Index (Gopher Menu)
8 -- Telnet Session
9 -- Binary file
s -- Sound
e -- Event (not in 2.06)
I -- Image (other than GIF)
M -- MIME multipart/mixed message
T -- TN3270 Session
c -- Calendar (not in 2.06)
g -- GIF image
h -- HTML, HyperText Markup Language
-l
Using -l in the query comman will create a file of links for the discovered resources. The file will be displayed as the first item on the veronica results menu. You can then retrieve that file and include the links in menus which you may be building. Not all veronica servers support the -l option.
Jughead
Jughead, like Archie and Veronica, borrows its name in part from a popular comic book character. Its name also stands for Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy Excavation And Display, for Rhett (Jonzy) Jones of the University of Utah Computer Center.
Jughead searches Gopherspace in a manner much like Veronica, except that its searches are confined to a specified region of Gopherspace (often just the Gopher server on which it is located). This can be useful for locating information on your own servr, rather than getting the same information from a distant server. This can help cut down on some of the time-consuming waits for other servers to allow you in and to return your finds.
Jughead functions in a manner much like Veronica in that once you have selected a query type, you will be presented with a dialogue box in which you will enter your query command. The operatives and many of the flag settings useful for Veronica searches can be used in Jughead querries. Refer to the Veronica variables above for tips on writing effective Jughead querries.