Panl Configuration

The configuration of the Panl server is the most important part of this book, it drives the features for the connection to the Solr search server and the registration of the Panl collection URLs and how the Solr fields are to be processed.

The Panl server is driven by at minimum two configuration files (both of which are java based .properties files[38]), the panl.properties file and at least one (but maybe more) of a <panl_collection_url>.panl.properties file.  

Within these files, properties that start with the prefix of solr. relate to configuring the connection to Solr, properties that start with panl. configure how Panl requests and parses the results from Solr.

Of the two files mentioned, the <panl_collection_url>.panl.properties file(s) contains the most configuration.

Notes: The file names used within this book are examples only.  Both of the filenames can be anything that you choose, but the format of the file must be a java .properties file format.

For clarity and understanding, whilst you learn how to configure the Panl server, it is suggested that you name the files as per the naming used in this book.

The panl.properties file

The panl.properties file, configures the Panl Server to

  1. Define how to communicate with the Solr Server,
  2. Whether to return verbose server responses,
  3. Whether to enable the in-built Panl Results Viewer, Explainer, and Single Search Page Example, and
  4. The locations for the properties files for each Panl collection, and the Solr collection to which these properties files connect to.

Once configured, the panl.properties file should remain relatively static.  Generally, the only changes that are required to this file is when a new Panl CaFUP is to be registered.

If you use the generator functionality, the well-commented templates which drive the generation can be found in the GitHub repository:

The panl.properties template:

https://github.com/synapticloop/panl/blob/main/src/main/resources/panl.properties.template

The <panl_collection_url>.panl.properties file

A <panl_collection_url>.panl.properties file is defined for each individual Panl collection that

  1. Defines the length of LPSE code,
  2. Defines the LPSE codes for the parameters for
  1. Query,
  2. Sort order,
  3. Pagination,
  4. Number of results to return,
  5. Passthrough codes, and
  6. Individual facets and fields
  1. Defines, for facets,
  1. Whether to have suffixes and/or prefixes for the facet.
  2. If it is a Boolean field, whether to replace the default true/false values
  3. Whether to designate a facet as an OR, RANGE, DATE range, or REGULAR facet.
  4. Whether this facet has a hierarchy (when or unless).
  5. The sorting order of the facet, either value (ascending or descending), or count.
  6. Specific Solr Search Field details
  1. The order of the facets within the URL path.
  2. The available FieldSets for each collection.
  3. Search Fields
  4. Facet ordering
  5. More Like This Configuration

If you use the generator functionality, the well-commented templates which drive the generation can be found in the Synapticloop Panl GitHub repository:

The panl_collection_url.panl.properties template:

https://github.com/synapticloop/panl/blob/main/src/main/resources/panl_collection_url.panl.properties.template

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