The Gopher service offers access to files and directories on Gopher servers throughout the Internet. With Gopher, users get an easier interface, links to other Gopher servers and resources, and access to aliases (descriptive names) for files and directories on Gopher servers. The information is presented in a hierarchical structure. Depending on the client software being used and the selections available on the Gopher server, the user might be able to choose how information is viewed (for example, as a text file, as a Word for Windows document, or in a particular language).
The Gopher client presents the individual user with directory lists. If the user chooses a subdirectory from the displayed list, the listing for that subdirectory is displayed. If the user chooses a file, it is downloaded. Each directory and file can be on a different Gopher server.
You can also configure your Gopher server to search local WAIS databases. Information on how to do this, along with information on installing and configuring the Gopher Server service, is available in the EMWAC document, Gopher Server Manual. WAIS is discussed later in this chapter.
Gopher isn't just an Internet tool. Many organizations use Gopher on their local area network, or on the corporate internet, to help users within the organization find the information they need quickly and efficiently.
The EMWAC document, Gopher Server Manual (included in this resource kit) gives you complete information on installing and configuring the Gopher server service. It is in the same directory with the files for the Gopher server program; these files are named GOPHERS.*.
The files you need to install the Gopher Server service are included with this resource kit.
The Gopher Server service is started and stopped like any other Windows NT service, through the Services option in Control Panel. The EMWAC document, Gopher Server Manual, gives specific information about controlling and monitoring this service.
When you first install the service, and periodically thereafter, it is a good idea to use Performance Monitor to make sure users of the service are not putting too great a load on the computer. You can divide the load among several different computers if necessary. However, one computer can usually distribute a tremendous amount of information via the Gopher Server service.
Gopher servers are set up so that information can be readily accessed, even by users who don't know the name of the specific file or directory where the information they seek is kept. To meet these goals, it is important to use descriptive directory names, filenames, and aliases. Descriptive directory names and filenames are an obvious step, and help users of FTP as well as users of Gopher. For example, your Gopher directory could have a subdirectory named \RESEARCH, which has a subdirectory for each type of project (\RESEARCH\DEMOGRPH for demographics, \RESEARCH\USABILTY for usability studies, and so forth.). Each of these subdirectories would have two subdirectories: \RESULTS and \RAWDATA. Anyone searching your Gopher server could locate the information they want by following the directory tree.
Aliases (also called friendly names) let you present Gopher users with descriptive names for files and directories. This is especially helpful to Internet users working from computers that do not support long filenames. When a Gopher user searches for information you have provided on your Gopher server, the Gopher client searches for filenames in the server's directory and subdirectories, and also searches for aliases you might have created for the files and directories. For example, for the directory \RESEARCH\DEMOGRPH\RESULTS you could create the alias "Demographic Research at XYZ University: Results." The user sees the alias instead of the directory name. The result is less ambiguous, and the presentation is more polished. Aliases are discussed in the EMWAC document, Gopher Server Manual.