5 User interfaces to SIMBAD

There are several user interfaces to SIMBAD. New users are advised to go directly to the WWW interface, unless they have very specific needs.

• The Web interface is currently the easiest access mode to SIMBAD. This interface takes benefit of the WWW features to provide the user with additional links to internal documentation, associated services ( ALADIN, VIZIER), and external archives (currently: the INES database of the IUE project; the high-energy observational archives at HEASARC). Some features, such as the finding chart, have been specifically designed for the Web and are not available through the other modes.

• The command line interface is the basic underlying interface to the database, which serves as a basis for the other more user-friendly interfaces. During many years it was the sole access mode to the database, and many users who are accustomed to the commands may find it quicker and more versatile. It implies a remote login (through telnet) on the simbad machine in Strasbourg, and the user needs to have a user name and password (see Sect. 6.1).

• A graphical interactive user interface to SIMBAD, XSIMBAD, taking benefit of the X Window environment has been developed in 1993-94 for distribution to users working in a Unix environment. It is now obsolete, because all the functionalities, and additional ones, are more easily available through the Web.

• A client/server package is distributed on request to data managers of archives and information systems, when they need to organize the most efficient access to SIMBAD for the resolution of object names into the corresponding position, or the retrieval of other information provided by the database, such as the reference list for a given object. Written currently in C language, it can easily be plugged into any application able to access C routines. Distribution is subject to CDS approval.