Start by downloading the Software.
Unpack everything in some arbitrary directory.
For the tests, you will also need some isis database,
which must be located as files db/cds/cds.*, see downloads.
Make sure filenames are lowercase.

If you are on Windows, you should either get yourself the cygwin
environment with tools like gmake and gcc or volunteer as a porter and
start writing the Makefile for your make and compiler. Erik has build
a Windows version using mingw and Linux gcc as crosscompiler. If you
are on Linux, everything is fine. Ports to MAC OS X and other UNIXes
should be no problem.

Type "make" and enjoy the compiler messages.
(If your make complains, e.g. on BSD, try "gmake").
Type "make demo" and enjoy your first open isis record.
(You installed a db/cds/cds.*, didn't you? It has more than 42 rows?)
Type "make run" and watch the guts of your db passing by.
Type "make test", there should be no difference between the testout.txt and
the testres.txt as provided (using the cds database from winisis
and the 15 MB 58.000+ row unesb db, see downloads).
Type "make time" to measure performance,
subsequent tries are usually much faster.
My 800 MHz P3 random-reads more than 179.000 records a second,
once the files are in the system cache.
Typical values:
$
time ./openisis -perf 1000000 -db db/cds/cds >/dev/null

real    0m5.655s
user    0m3.650s
sys     0m2.000s

time ./openisis -perf 100000 -db db/unesb/unesb >/dev/null

real    0m0.991s
user    0m0.670s
sys     0m0.320s

time ./openisis -fmt mfnf -search 'k$' -db db/unesb/unesb >/dev/null
860     rows for        k

real    0m0.044s
user    0m0.040s
sys     0m0.000s
$

Type "make perl" to build the perl stuff;
some perl 5.* must be installed beforehand.
Type "make java" or, if you just can't get enough, "make jdump",
to see it all happen in your shiny new JDK1.3 Java VM.
Some 1.2.* JDKs should do, but tell the Makefile to not look
in /usr/java/jdk1.3 by setting JAVAHOME.

*	installing openisis

libopenisis.a can be linked with your code; no installation necessary.
You may wan't to install the 'openisis' binary somewhere in your path
for the fun of it; go ahead, just copy, no magic registry entries.

To install the perl stuff for general availability in your
/usr/lib/perl5 or whatever, cd to the perl subdir (after "make perl")
and issue "make install" (as root or otherwise legitimated).
After that, try "perldoc OpenIsis" and the demo.pl script.

Java, like perl, needs to dynamically slurp both some stuff in the own
language and a native shared object. The former is openisis.jar, set
your CLASSPATH to include it, or specify when invoking java like in
the Makefile. The latter is libopenjsis.so on linux (yes, it's jsis).
The system dynamic linker must be able to find it;
see
>	/jdoc/org/openisis/NativeDb.html	NativeDb.java
for details.

... GetIt