Isite and ANZLIC metadata

[Rob Atkinson <rob@sydney.socialchange.net.au>]

I've just spent a fun weekend trying to get to grips with getting
ANZLIC metadata (using the proposed SGML format) and Isite to talk to 
each other. The questions below are either ANZLIC (Australia New
Zealand)
metadata issues or generic Isite issues - for the most part it is
not obvious to me which is the correct list - but perhaps when Isite
doco
is up to date some of these would evaporate. 

As a result I have just a few questions - some of which may be the 
result of having overlooked the obvious, but searching the
documentation, playing with all the tools and crawling the net have
failed to come up
with simple answers. Looking at the source code is starting to pall a
little. I have stated assumptions where I am seeking confirmation.

1. The ANZLIC doctype in the Isite 2.0.6 distribution is based upon the
proposed SGML implementation no? And completely undocumented?

2. The US "mp" metadata parser tool is required to make sensible HTML
from a FGDC SGML metadata file, and this is required to make Isite
retrieve FGDC documents properly. The ANZLIC doctype works the same way? 

3. What is the syntax for numeric searches for Isearch?
 for zclient? 
The syntax for Isearch bounding rectangle appears to be 
-RECT{X1 X2 Y1 Y2} 
but I cant persuade this to work with the ANZLIC or FGDC doctype using
the ANZLIC SGML example.
What is the Z39.50 syntax to make a FGDC bounding box search work?
Is an ANZLIC doctype the same?

4. The geogate program (referred to in documentation) has been merged
into zgate?

5. The mp program wont parse ANZLIC metadata SGML. Are there mappings or
configurations to make it or "cns" do this job?

6. I need to write a Perl module to extract spatial information from
metadata to pass to geographically enabled data servers - I would prefer
to
use an ANZLIC standard that can be rendered in HTML. It looks like I
might
have to create the HTML manually, or use a generic SGML->HTML tool. Does
anyone in Australia have a tool set for creating HTML from ANZLIC SGML?
Or recommend an approach using other public domain tools (like
SGMLS.pm).
BTW This Perl module will be publically available from mid-June.

7. Is there anything else obvious I have missed, or need to know but
hasn't yet been comitted to documentation?

Would much appreciate prompt responses if you have answers. 

Thanks in advance
-- 
_______________________________________________________________
Rob Atkinson              Email: rob@sydney.socialchange.net.au

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