Accessing CLSD

There are two categories of use:
  • Use via the Web Services Resource Framework (WSRF) as implemented using the Perl module WSRF::Lite, and
  • Use via Web forms, the AIX command-line interface, IBM's DB2 Control Center client, and Web Services (SOAP, etc.).
Use via WSRF does not require authentication, but use via the other interfaces requires an account on the Research Database Cluster at Indiana Unversity.

Using CLSD through WSRF

To use CLSD via WSRF, you must write a program that uses various WSRF protocols to interact with a Web Service running on a WSRF container running on discern.uits.iu.edu.

An example is presented in Perl examples for accessing CLSD

Using CLSD through other interfaces

As mentioned above, using CLSD through non-WSRF interfaces requires an account on the Research Database Cluster (RDC) at Indiana Unversity.

To get an account on the RDC, Indiana University users should request an account by filling out a Research Systems Account Application . In the comments section of the account request, add that you need a local and persistent password for use with CLSD. If you already have an account on the RDC, send email to rats @ indiana.edu and request a local and persistent password for use with CLSD.

TeraGrid users should send e-mail to data @ indiana.edu explaining how CLSD will be used, and describing their TeraGrid activities.

Once you have an appropriate account on the RDC there are several tools you can use to access CLSD:

  • you may log into the Research Database Cluster, libra.uits.iu.edu, and start the DB2 command line processor (by running the command "db2", after setting up some environment options by running "source ~db2inst2/sqllib/db2profile", or equivalent). Then you can use a command like: 
           connect to clsd2 user account_name using account_password
    to actually make the connection to CLSD.

  • you may use a desktop client that will allow you to interact with DB2,

  • you may write programs in languages such as Perl, C, or Java that will fetch data from the DB2 server via SQL, and

  • you may use the demonstration Web interface to CLSD. This demonstration is implemented as a Java servlet that accesses CLSD through JDBC, and source code for the servlet is available as discussed below.

  • you may use the demonstration JAX-RPC service. The source code for the service, and a demonstration client are discussed presented on the page discussing the use of CLSD from various Java clients.

  • you may use the demonstration Web interface to CLSD using the JAX-RPC service, rather than direct JDBC access.

To use a desktop client, you must first acquire and install special client software. DB2 clients come in two basic types: graphical or command-line oriented. Either type allows you to type in direct, ad-hoc queries, and IBM provides DB2 clients for a variety of operating systems and programming languages. For example, there is a command-line client for both Unix and Windows and a graphical client called the IBM DB2 Control Center for Windows.

When you write programs to access CLSD, you can use them to build custom command-line commands, to process requests gathered from web page forms, to execute multiple requests from CLSD, etc.

To access CLSD from within a program, you must first acquire and install a special (driver) library that depends (in part) upon which programming language you are using.

If you want to access CLSD via a program written in Java, you may want to read Using Java to access CLSD, which provides links to the source code used to create the demonstration applications described above, among other things.

If you're using Perl, you may want to read Perl examples for using CLSD.

For help installing or using a DB2 client or for any other questions please contact the Scientific Data Support group via data @ indiana.edu.