Question from: Lee Latimer ljl@blcmp.org.uk Tue, 24 Jun 1997 13:04:15 +0100
Is there a way to use Explain to determine the default database within a bibliographic server?
"default database" has a number of connotations:
- In Z39.50 "default database" sometimes refers to a database with a well-known name ('xxdefault') that a friendly server would support, because you don't know a priori any (other) database names at that server. So for that connotation, the question is moot because it implies that the client doesn't have the Explain capability to learn database names.
- by "default" you might mean that a server has only one database and you want to find its name via Explain. Clearly this is supported (TargetInfo would list exactly one database combination, i.e. one instance of 'dbcombinations') which would list exactly one database name.
- A server may have several bibliographic databases (books, maps, journals, ...) and perhaps also has a general bibliographic (logical) database that encompasses most, but not all, of the specific databases (not all, because if it were all, that would be easy to determine via database combinations). In that case, the "description" could be used to convey (to the user, but not the client) that this is a"default" bibliographic database, but there is no way (currently) to convey this information to the client.
Library
of Congress