$Id: README,v 1.1.1.1 2004/06/18 06:38:13 ibbo Exp $

a2j README, last updated on Fri Jan  5 12:38:02 GMT 2001 by Ian.

N.B. The classes generated by this tool are now dependent upon the Apache log4j 
class library!

Introduction
------------

This is the initial release of a2j, an ASN to Java stub compiler. The goal of this project
is production of a set of efficient base encoders for a Z3950 toolkit 
(see http://sourceforge.net/projects/jzjkit) but it is hoped that the toolkit may 
have a wider use. The tool is far from a production quality compiler with many warts 
and bumps that need good ideas on how they can be resolved.  I would like to hear from 
anyone trying to use the toolkit or with ideas on how it can be improved or issues resolved.

Getting started
---------------

There are sample ASN files under the source/com/example/gen directory along with
a script that generates the encoders for a given .asn file.

Long term, the aim is to be able to invoke the compiler followed by a list of
source files to compile. However, this initial release contains a bug which will
cause only the last file to have codecs generated, thus, the following is needed

This line will generate the ASN useful package.

java -DCodecBasePackage="com.example.gen" com.k_int.codec.comp.runParser ./useful.asn1 2> zout

This line will generate the codecs needed for the Z3950 protocol definition

java -DCodecBasePackage="com.example.gen" com.k_int.codec.comp.runParser ./useful.asn1 ./z3950v3.asn 2>> zout 


You are advised to take a look at the z3950 toolkit at http://sourceforge.net/projects/jzjkit
for an example use of the generated codecs (You can also copy the ant build files from here if
you wish).

Finally, in the src/com/example/gen directory there is a hand modified version of the generated 
EXPLAIN_codec.java file. This modified codec will look for a singleton OID register object that
might give the external a hint about which codec should be used given any OID supplied with the
external.  If you have generated the classes to a different package (using the -DCodecBasePackage 
setting) you will need to make similar changes to your geneated EXPLAIN_codec if you wish to
make use of this functionality.

Contact Information
-------------------
If you have any comments, need any help, or feel like contributing please drop me a line (ibbo@k-int.com)
or visit the a2j project page on sourceforge ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/a2j ).

Have fun,
Ian.