Caucus Documentation Tree

Revised: 22 March 1999

The Caucus documentation tree is like a coat-tree: it is a single place to "hang" all of the known Caucus technical documentation.  For now it is meant as a purely internal resource and archive for Caucus Systems Inc.  Eventually a modified version might be made available to our users.

  1. Internal Caucus technical documents

    1. "Chix" specifications, October 1991.  (RTF)
      Most string manipulation inside Caucus uses a library of "chx" functions, which provide for dynamic allocation and sizing of strings, as well as multi-byte language support (such as Japanese).

    2. Caucus database API, September 1995.  (RTF)
      Most access to the Caucus database is done through a layered applications programmer interface, a set of psuedo-objects and related function calls.

    3. Caucus database file formats, August 1993.  (RTF)
      This (rather dated) guide describes the precise formats of the Caucus data files.  (Needs updating!)

    4. Japanese Character Set Coding  (The Oriental Mysteries Revealed), June 1991.  (RTF)  (gif1)  (gif2)
      Description of how japanese character encoding works.

    5. Namelist Functions
      (Missing).  Description of the "Namelist" datatype in Caucus, and related functions.

    6. History and new directions, April 1997.  (RTF)
      A summary of Caucus architecture history through version 3.1, with some visions of different future directions.

    7. Caucus 3.1 wishlist, June 1996.  (RTF)
      The feature "wishlist" for Caucus 3.1.

    8. "What's new in Caucus 4.1", March 1998.  (HTML)
      Summary of new features in Caucus 4.1.  (Actively under development.)

    9. Caucus Master/Slave Servers: Concept Paper, March 1998.  (HTML)
      A concept paper about Caucus "caching" servers.

     

  2. Technical Documents available to Customers

    1. CML Reference Guide (4.08), March 1999.  (HTML)
      Programmer's reference guide for the CML language, current through development revision 4.08j.

    2. Caucus 4.0 FAQ, January 1999.  (HTML)
      The Screen Porch "FAQ" area.  It includes several technical papers or "how to"s:

      1. Caucus Architecture Description
      2. Caucus Managers
      3. How to Use Macros
      4. How to Pre-register Caucus users
      5. How to Upload Files
      6. Using Virtual Hosts with Caucus

    3. Organizer's Guide, April 1996.  (RTF)  (HTML)
      Stu Karabenick's guide for Caucus conference organizers.  Good, but quite dated.  Oriented towards academic use, but applicable to many situations.

    4. Organizer's "How-To", April 1996.  (RTF)  (HTML)
      A companion guide to Stu's document that describes more of the specific "how-to" about organizing a conference.  Also rather dated.

     

  3. User Guides & Handouts

    1. EMU "Getting Started with Caucus 3.1" Guide, 1997.  (PDF)  (HTML)
      A "handout" for EMU students using Caucus.  Original page is at www.emich.edu/public/lt/caucus.html.

    2. University of Arizona "Caucus Information", 1998.  (HTML)
      A good general introduction to using Caucus, for both students and faculty.  Original page is at caucus.arizona.edu/~caucus/newuser/uacauc_1.htm.

    3. University of Western Ontario Caucus 3.1 Guide, 1997.  (HTML)
      A "How Do I Use Caucus" guide, with a report on a pilot project on using Caucus at the university.  Original page is at www.uwo.ca/its/projects/ri/caucus.

     

  4. Installation Guides

    1. Caucus 4.0 Installation Guide for Unix, December 1998.  (HTML)

    2. Brief Caucus 4.0 Installation Guide, December 1998.  (HTML)
      This is the "readme.txt" file that accompanies each Unix Caucus kit.  It is meant for the Unix power-user, with warnings to read the full guide if anything is confusing.

    3. Caucus 4.0 Installation Guide for Win/NT, December 1998.  (HTML)

    4. Caucus 3.1 Installation Guide, February 1997.  (RTF)
      Installation guide (including an architecture description and some notes on customization).

     

  5. Workshop Notes

    1. Organizer Abilities Outline, December 1995.  (RTF)
      Outline notes for a workshop about the abilities of a conference organizer.

    2. Customization Workshop Notes, May 1996.  (RTF)
      Workshop outline notes about how Caucus works, and how to customize it.

    3. Sample Customization Notes, May 1996.  (HTML)
      An example "on the spur of the moment" customization of a Caucus 3.x customer site, after a workshop.  (Adding a conference description.)

     

  6. Caucus 2.7 (text interface) Guides

    1. User Guide, December 1995.  (RTF)  (HTML)
      The complete command-line user's guide.  (The HTML version was produced by the Twin-Cities Freenet, and is slightly modified for their site.)

    2. Menu User's Guide, December 1995.  (RTF)
      The complete guide for using the menu interface(s).

    3. Customizing Guide, December 1995.  (RTF)
      Customizing the User Interface.

    4. Unix Installation Guide, December 1995.  (RTF)
      Installing Caucus on Unix.