
			-------------------------
			  DBIx::FullTextSearch
			-------------------------

This is the README file for the DBIx::FullTextSearch module. Please read it
fully, especially if you install or use the module for the first time and
have some troubles with it. I probably won't be polite if you email me and I
will realize that you did not read what I've written to help you to use
the thing. That includes both the questions that are covered here and
in the DBIx::FullTextSearch documentation, and the form of the email.

DBIx::FullTextSearch is a Perl module that provides ways to index various text
documents (Perl scalars, files, web pages, database fields) using the
MySQL database in such a way, that queries like "what documents contain
words penguin and yellow but not red" (written +penguin +yellow -red)
can be processed. You can also index phrases, so that query
"little penguin" returns list of documents where these two words appear
in this sequence. A work on support of more complex queries, like
"little penguin near swim% not penguin flies" is under way -- you are
welcome to send patches for this feature.

Perl interface is available that includes create method for creating
new index, index_document to add (or update) info about document in
the index and methods contains and econtains to fetch list of documents
(document names, like filenames or URLs) that contain specified set of
words or phrase.

Main goals were:
	use of MySQL, since database provides remote access and
		access control and is generally nice; the mixture of
		database indexes for speed with blobs for compact
		storage seem very effective;
	many flexible ways of storing the data -- you can have index
		that is small but slow for upgrades, or bigger index
		that is usefull for documents that change often, or
		index for phrases; read the man page to understand the
		concept of frontend and backend;
	documents may be indexed (named) either by integers or by string
		names -- conversion to internal numeric form (where
		needed) is done by the module;
	extendable design that provides easy ways of adding new storage
		backends or application frontends; this makes this
		modules suitable for tests and benchmarks of various
		ideas;
	perlish ways of specifying things -- you can provide your own
		Perl code to specify how document is divided into words
		and how words are treated; using stemming algorithms
		and the like is easy -- just specify you Perl code
		that will be called to do the job;
	usefull for indexing mailinglist archives or small to medium web
		page collections, or generally documents;
	command line utility to maintain the indexes -- you do not need
		to write Perl code to do tests or simple things.

Installation:
	Download the tar.gz, unpack it, change to the DBIx::FullTextSearch-*
	directory. Then do

		perl Makefile.PL
		make
		make test
		make install

	You will be asked about way to connect to your MySQL server and
	this information will be used to run the tests. If the MySQL
	server is not available or you enter incorrect data, the tests
	will be skipped.

	You need perl at least 5.004, DBI at least 1.0, sufficiently
	recent MySQL server (like 3.23+) and DBD::mysql sufficiently
	recent. I myself use 5.005_03 and 5.6.0, 1.14, 3.23.31 and
	2.0407. The module will probably run on older versions as
	well, but if you experience problems and you are not sure,
	upgrade first. Also, make sure you use the latest available
	version of this (DBIx::FullTextSearch) module.

	This is pure-Perl module -- you do not need to compile anything.
	However I assume you know how modules and their installation
	work with Perl. If not, please read the documentation that comes
	with Perl and any platform specific notes -- I won't be very
	helpful unless we make a deal about support contract.

Problems and bug reports:
	If anything goes wrong during make test, make sure you have the
	most recent versions of the software (this and other) first.
	If that is the case please send me the output of

		make
		make test TEST_VERBOSE=1

	together with any info that may be relevant. That includes
	version of perl (perl -V), version of MySQL server and of this
	any other modules. Please mention the words DBIx::FullTextSearch somewhere
	in the Subject of your email so that I know what it's about.
	Subjects containing stupid words like Help, all-uppercase and
	use of exclamation points is considered rude, so avoid them.
	Thank you.

	Before you use the module, read the man page DBIx::FullTextSearch. If
	reporting problems on your own data (after the installation went
	fine), please describe the situation as clearly as possible.
	More info is better than less.

Success reports and ideas:
	I'll appreciate and ideas and comments you might have about the
	module.

Available:
	http://www.cpan.org/

Copyright: (c) 2000,2001 Thomas J. Mather, tjmather@tjmather.com,
	(c) 1999 Jan Pazdziora, adelton@fi.muni.cz. 
	All rights
	reserved. This package is free software; you can redistribute
	it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. It is
	provided as is, without any warranty of it's purpose or
	usefullness (you can't sue me if the module breaks your toaster
	or annoys your fish either).
