WebBLAST 2.00.8 Beta
                      -----------------------------
This is beta software.  There may be bugs.  Use at your own risk!

Instructions on installation are in the INSTALL file. 

WebBLAST is a collection of Perl 5 programs which provide a simple data 
pipeline from Sequence machine to the web.  This package includes the 
unix utilities.  A sort program which moves sequences and trace files from 
the holding area, to the appropriate directory within the UNIX file system.
A program which runs blast searches on the sorted sequences and runs 
statistical analysis on BLAST results.  And A CGI program which reads the flat 
files produced by the statistical analyses.  

DOCUMENTATION

POD style documentation is included in all programs.  You should be able to 
use the 'perldoc' utility to extract documentation from the programs directly.
The latest docs are always available at http://genome.nhgri.nih.gov/webblast/docs/

AVAILABILITY

The latest version of WebBLAST should always be available from:

    ftp://ftp.nhgri.nih.gov/pub/software/webblast/

PREREQUISITES

In order to install and use this package you will need Perl version
5.004 or better.  We recommend that you have the following packages 
installed before you install WebBLAST:

1. NHGRI::Blastall.pm Version 0.46 or better
    ftp://ftp.nhgri.nih.gov/pub/software/blastall/

2. NCBI's local BLAST Version 2.0.6 or better
    ftp://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/executables/
      (for help installing NCBI's local BLAST see
       http://genome.nhgri.nih.gov/blastall/blast_install/)

3. URI::Escape module available on CPAN http://cpan.perl.com/
   
4. SequenceUpload
   WebBLAST2 includes a MAC Droplet which is designed to simplify the process
   of transferring sequences to the Unix server from a Macintosh
   (connected to a sequencer).  This package is bundled separately.
    ftp://ftp.nhgri.nih.gov/pub/software/webblast/mac/

5. Staden (OPTIONAL)
   WebBLAST2 includes a Java Applet which allows one to examine Trace files.*
   This Applet requires that Staden be installed on the same machine as the
   web server.  If you do not have Staden the TraceViewer will not work
   but everything else will.
   http://www.ib3.gmu.edu/staden/
       Staden is free to academics.
       http://www.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/pubseq/availability.html

*The TraceViewer was developed at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
by Michael Zody.

SUPPORT

Questions about how to install and use WebBLAST should be directed to 
webblaster@nhgri.nih.gov

Bug reports and suggestions for improvements can also be sent to 
webblaster@nhgri.nih.gov

For more general information see the WebBLAST homepage:
http://genome.nhgri.nih.gov/webblast/

PUBLIC DOMAIN NOTICE

This software/database is "United States Government Work" under the terms 
of the United States Copyright Act. It was written as part of the authors' 
official duties for the United States Government and thus cannot be 
copyrighted. This software/database is freely available to the public for 
use without a copyright notice. Restrictions cannot be placed on its present 
or future use. 

Although all reasonable efforts have been taken to ensure the accuracy 
and reliability of the software and data, the National Human Genome 
Research Institute (NHGRI) and the U.S. Government does not and cannot 
warrant the performance or results that may be obtained by using this 
software or data. NHGRI and the U.S. Government disclaims all warranties 
as to performance, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. 

In any work or product derived from this material, proper attribution 
of the authors as the source of the software or data should be made, using 
the following citation.

Ferlanti ES, Ryan JF, Makalowska I, Baxevanis AD
WebBLAST 2.0: an integrated solution for organizing and analyzing sequence data.
Bioinformatics. 1999 May;15(5):422-423. 

Enjoy!