Documentation

The Handle.Net software is infrastructure, not end user or off-the-shelf software. It is written in Java™. To install and run it, you will need skills similar to those of a Systems Administrator. The distribution includes installation instructions in an install.txt file, but before you download and attempt to use the software, you will want to review the documentation referenced here and understand the terminology, know how the system operates, and think about how you want to use the identifiers you create.

(1) Technical Manual, Handle.Net Version 9. The technical manual is included in the Handle.Net software. It is a comprehensive resource for installing, configuring and managing your handle server, and administering your identifiers. (Click here for earlier versions of the Handle Technical Manual.)

(2) Handle.Net Software (v9) Release Notes. (Click here to see Version 8 Release Notes. Click here to see Version 7 Release Notes.)

(3) FAQs. A list of questions and answers regarding installing, configuring and running a handle server, firewalls and ports, and error codes.

(4) Handle Tool User Manual. The Handle Tool is included in the Handle.Net software. It is a graphical utility for performing handle operations such as creation, deletion, editing and other administrative functions. The tool included since version 8 of the software includes a number of improvements, including the addition of a "replace mode" where a handle being edited can be replaced in a single operation rather than series of add/modify/delete values requests, and loading and saving handle records in a JSON format.

(5) Proxy Server System. CNRI runs a proxy server system described at https://hdl.handle.net. The proxy service is provided by a collection of servers that accept URL requests and know how to talk to the Handle System. A request of the form https://hdl.handle.net/<handleX> returns entries of the type URL from the handle record for handleX. Documentation covers resolving handles using the proxy server system, encoding handles for use in URIs, proxy server query parameters, and the proxy server REST API.

(6) The HDL Client API Javadoc is not considered documentation, but is integrated in the Handle.Net (HN_v9.3.1) software.