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+project_name:  sisudoc-spine-search
+
+  description: [
+      "documents, structuring, processing, publishing",
+      search,
+      object numbering,
+      cgi search form for static content generator,
+      sisu markup
+    ]
+
+    author:
+      name:    Ralph Amissah
+      email:   ralph.amissah@gmail.com
+
+    copyright: "(C) 2015 - 2024 Ralph Amissah, All Rights Reserved."
+
+    license:   "AGPL 3 or later"
+
+    homepage: [
+        "https://www.sisudoc.org",
+        "https://www.doc-reform.org"
+      ]
+
+## Build Configuration
+
+
+
+## Installation, Compilation
+
+Development of sisudoc-spine started in 2015 on a Debian linux box.
+
+Development since 2020 has been on a NixOS linux box, my laptop. If you are
+fortunate enough to be using the same the build instructions should be presented
+on entering the sisudoc-spine directory. It should be little problem building on
+other linuxes with the right dependencies. At one time, debconf-18 I was
+persuaded to try meson, and for a couple of years maintained a meson build, that
+dropped out of use before or on my making the switch to nixos in 2020.
+
+❯❯ D compiler and build manager
+
+SiSU spine is written in the programming language D for which there are 3
+compilers: dmd, ldc, gdc
+- https://wiki.dlang.org/Compilers
+
+D projects tend to use dub as project manager
+- https://code.dlang.org/packages/dub
+- https://github.com/dlang/dub/blob/master/source/dub/commandline.d
+
+The default build tools used are dub with ldc2 (dub is also tested)
+
+## make a directory and clone the sisudoc-spine project
+
+  mkdir ~/git.sisudoc
+  cd ~/git.sisudoc
+
+  git clone git://git.sisudoc.org/software/sisudoc-spine && \
+  git clone git://git.sisudoc.org/software/sisudoc-spine-search-cgi && \
+  git clone git://git.sisudoc.org/markup/sisudoc-spine-samples
+
+such a relative directory layout will be assumed in the examples that provided
+
+all work in this installation of sisudoc-spine-search-cgi will take place in the
+directory: sisudoc-spine-search-cgi
+
+## build sisudoc-spine
+
+NOTE all actions to build sisudoc-spine are taken within the directory
+sisudoc-spine-search-cgi
+
+cd sisudoc-spine-search-cgi
+
+## directly with dub
+### ldc2
+  # on nix (get dependencies by setting your development environment):
+  nix develop ".#dsh-nixpkgs-ldc-dub" --print-build-logs -c zsh
+
+  dub run --compiler=ldmd2 --config=ldmd2 --combined --skip-registry=all
+  dub --compiler=ldmd2 --config=ldmd2
+
+  dub run --compiler=ldc2 --config=ldc2 --combined --skip-registry=all
+  dub --compiler=ldc2 --config=ldc2
+
+### dmd
+  # on nix (get dependencies by setting your development environment):
+  nix develop ".#dsh-nixpkgs-dmd-dub" --print-build-logs -c zsh
+
+  dub run --compiler=dmd --config=dmd --combined --skip-registry=all
+  dub --compiler=dmd --config=dmd
+
+## with make
+
+### ldc2
+
+  make ldc
+
+### dmd
+
+  make dmd
+
+## with nix on linux / nixos
+
+### ldc2
+
+  nix build ".#spine-search-nixpkgs-ldc" --print-build-logs
+  # or
+  nix build ".#spine-search-overlay-ldc" --print-build-logs
+
+### dmd
+
+  nix build ".#spine-search-nixpkgs-dmd" --print-build-logs
+  # or
+  nix build ".#spine-search-overlay-dmd" --print-build-logs
+
+## the Meson build system was used briefly
+
+On recommendation at debconf-18 meson was used briefly. It has neither been
+tested nor used since the move to nix.
+
+- https://mesonbuild.com/
+
+  meson
+  ninja -C build
+  meson setup --wipe build && ninja -v -C build
+  make meson
+
+dub --force --compiler=ldc2 && sudo cp -v cgi-bin/spine-search /usr/lib/cgi-bin/.
+
+# Commands
+
+For commands to populate the db to be searched by sisudoc-spine-search-cgi see
+the README in sisudoc-spine and/or sisudoc-spine-samples
+
+However, a number of command instructions provided will not work unless the
+sqlite db has been initialised and like the web content, this the sqlite databse
+will not be found by sisudoc-spine-search-cgi unless it is placed where the
+web-server is configured to find it.